March 18th, 2021 | Education, General, visual arts
A painter I know, Gary Horn, recently reminded me of a traditional issue. “I could never figure out the great divide between artists and historians,” he wrote. “…art education could be greatly improved by historians and artists discussing art...
January 22nd, 2021 | General, Matters of the Spirit, Memory, Politics
Donald John Trump scuttled off to Mar-a-Lago aboard Air Force One, nuclear codes in tow, some three hours before his term ended at noon EST on January 20, 2021. I watched Kamala Harris and Joe Biden sworn in as Vice-President and President of the United States of...
January 8th, 2021 | General, Politics, Society at Large
The triumphs of Senators-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia were the best birthday gift ever. Their swearing-in will demote Mitch McConnell to Senate Minority Leader; his pocket will no longer entomb bipartisan legislation. This does not...
January 2nd, 2021 | General, Holidays, music, the world and Mother Nature, Time Passes
I hate that “thud.” It always means a bird has mistaken the sliders—despite the raptor and leaf decals—as navigable space. The first thud we heard was a male red-bellied woodpecker only a few days after we had moved in. Then there was a goldfinch. Maybe a couple of...
December 31st, 2020 | General, Holidays, Politics, Society at Large
Advent proceeded inexorably toward the First Day of Christmas. I went for minimalist normalcy: the Crèche and the Peaceable Kingdom, candles in the windows, wreaths flanking the front door. Unsettled After The Election Donald Trump is still grinching about a rigged...
December 12th, 2020 | Family, General, Health, Holidays, Politics, Society at Large
How is one supposed to really grasp the number of those infected and killed by COVID19? There have been 71,401,780 cases confirmed globally, as of December 12 and 1,600,807 deaths. In the United States, 15,939,022 have fallen ill and 296, 656 have died. These are...
December 4th, 2020 | Family, Gardens and Gardening, General, Holidays, Home Improvements, Society at Large, the world and Mother Nature, Time Passes
Is everyone still there? How to recount the year’s doings when we have done largely nothing? My favorite word–one of the three Oxford Languages chose for Word Of The Year–is “Blursday.” It perfectly describes the mush that time has become. Last year and...
November 28th, 2020 | General, Holidays, Politics
It is Thanksgiving and it is meet that I should count my blessings. Good Things and Silver Linings Despite the explosive rates of COVID infections, the disease has not breached our defenses. Nor has my Tattooed Boy fallen victim despite his return to his workplace. An...
November 7th, 2020 | General, Politics
November 3, midafternoon Election Day. I have distracted myself with gardening, grocery shopping, a little laundry. We are all anxious, unnerved. I can almost hear the scratch of pens, and the thunk of the machines ingesting ballots, at the polls. Analyses favor the...
October 19th, 2020 | General, Memory, Politics, Popular Culture, Society at Large
As my Dear One and I strolled beneath blue October skies over gilded foliage, I asked if he thought Joe Biden would win the election. He said yes with a fair amount of confidence. I think Biden will prevail, myself. That is certainly my hope. A Democratic victory...