There’s a particular kind of disappointment in watching a once‑reliable machine die in an undignified collapse of cascading destruction brought on by the failure of a single, fragile part. The irony is sharp when it happens at the peak of our season of conspicuous consumption. My old washing machine didn’t fail on Christmas Day because … More When “Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough
The floor of the forest is decorated by fallen petals of vigorously blooming mountain laurels, lifting the gloom of gray and green days soaked in air that wets your face without rain. A hummingbird feeds outside the kitchen window and I move slowly, trying not to disturb her breakfast. Beneath the umbrage of dark clouds … More Toasting The Good Old Days
The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is stretch. The second thing is to ward off the adorably relentless paws of Peaches who, the moment she detects signs of awakening, is keen to, first of all, eat because she is starving and has never eaten in her entire life, and … More Through The Window And Beyond The Fence
The welcome silence of this sylvan spring morning is misleading. Underneath the quiet is a rich tapestry of sound: bird talk, a gentle breeze moving the treetops, the distant alert of a crow, and the nearby objections of a chicken. Tree frogs are encouraging the clouds to produce more rain, and a squirrel is using … More When The Phone Stopped Ringing
The Farmer’s Almanac I buy every December has not been opened since, and I’ll admit there’s nothing in that book I couldn’t find faster on my phone. But there it sits with its planting guides and planetary positions, short stories and anecdotes, a decorative but dusty bit of nostalgia. My grandfather would chuckle when people … More Ticket To The Stars
The more complex things become, the more vulnerable to disruption they are. So say systems theory, economics, and philosophy. The effect is observable in ecosystems, supply chains, and financial systems. It’s in the touchscreen controls of the washing machine that stopped working. It’s in the package that’s always running late for delivery. It’s in the … More Your Link Has Expired
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” This exchange is from Hemingway’s book, “The Sun Also Rises,” and it anticipates the more recent use of “slowly, then all at once,” which is a concise description of the way we often experience change. Things that seem to happen … More Shelter From The Storm
We’re traveling today, but I’ll take a moment to share with you one of the many hurdles we face in our tech-laden society when it comes to getting out the door in a timely fashion. I think Artificial Intelligence has been with us longer than anyone knew. Consider your printer. It knows when you need … More Out of Print
Outside The Box 