EXCITING TIMES

‘Tis a very good thing that I do not make a living writing for this modest site.

Spring has ended.
Summer is well along … evolving into a week of 90+ degree temps…and lots has been going on.

As planned, The Study’s property has been pruned and cut and made presentable.

There has been planning and planting and hauling and weeding and digging and mowing and stacking.

There has been a wedding in Chicago.

There have been funerals…of folks we haven’t known…and of folks we have known very well.
They are growing more and more common.

And so on…

In other words, we have been distracted.

And something of writer’s constipation has been unhappily very much with us….
Lots of things to think and talk and write about….and yet…the concepts and the words can be uttered…but not easily written.

And there is so much going on…in our own sphere(s)…and certainly in the world which make coffee and cocktail hours so much fun, besides the fellowship and the coffee and cocktails.

We are losing a favorite book store.
Our politicians reflect/mirror the confusion and political incapacity our our people.

We contemplate the purchase of extensive stockade fencing…good fences make good neighbors…if you are lucky.

Does our country still believe it is exceptional in that special, technical sense?

Do Americans still believe that their nation has a mission…that the Biblical injunction applies…”To whom much is given, much is expected”…or words to that effect?

American misadventures continue in Libya.
We draw down in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The American Empire ebbs and flows in fits and starts.

Our Son takes Granddaughters to Colorado and they catch trout and eat them on a frontier farm/ranch…a real one….not a touristy one.

We plan trips to Copper Harbor, Michigan and to Dear Friends in Texas…road trips…sight seeing all the way, God willing.

Dear Sophie Matilda and I grow more and more alike…getting older and more and more thoughtful…by no means more efficient.

Coffee and cigars and Irish Whisky have never tasted better…and discussion and debate have never been more enjoyable.

As we garden and plant and admire the greenery around The Study, I find myself resembling more and more my Dear Grandparents of so many years ago.

Perhaps there is something of a circle in this maturity business.

We wonder if it would be a good idea to buy an ereader. The Color Nook looks like a winner.

Spectacular law cases appear and are resolved.
The media fixates on titillating crimes…one after another.

Celebrities make us ashamed of our species.

And of course sometimes, even often, the opposite happens. Public characters do grand things.

These are exciting times.