The large yucca in our backyard is in bloom again. This is good news: we had thought we were going to lose the plant. Last year, it didn't bloom at all,  the result of a combination of age (it was a mature plant when we moved here 12 years ago), infestation by b… Read full post »

Writing about Bob Gibson raises a few more thoughts on the 1968 World Series.

First, let's remember that this was the last classic World Series. Two leagues, two pennant winners, one postseason series. No divisions. No playoffs. Which is why Gibby's Game 1 gem came on October 2.

Second, it was… Read full post »

Last night I stumbled upon the MLB Network's rebroadcast of Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. In that game, St. Louis Cardinals great Bob Gibson struck out a World Series record 17 Tigers en route to a 5-hit shutout that gave his Cardinals a 4-0 victory and a leg up… Read full post »

Summer calls for a light lunch, and here's a quick and easy sandwich that fits the bill.

All you need is a roll, brushed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and broiled briefly in a toaster oven; a thin slice of red onion; a slice of fresh mozzarella; and… Read full post »

Last Saturday, on the way home from food shopping, I was surprised to encounter a traffic jam. Surprised because our small town usually doesn’t generate enough traffic to experience a slowdown, except maybe when the school busses are picking up or dropping off kids every couple of blocks, and t… Read full post »

Father’s Day. The day to pay tribute to your paternal teacher, the person who showed you how to do things, who set an example in how to live, who was there to answer the tough questions. And so I would like to give my deep thanks to the person who did… Read full post »

Quivering, the moth

releases her scent, signal

of yearning to mate

  Read full post »

A few weeks ago, I glanced at the beginning of a book one of our sons was reading. The book was Leonard Mlodinow’s The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, and its opening paragraph was most provocative: 

“It struck me then that I have Hitler to thank for my existen… Read full post »

I recently read something from Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now that set me thinking. In a discussion of the infinitude of space, Eckhart called space “the Unmanifested itself, externalized.” It is, he says, “the ‘body’ of God.” He goes on to say that when we… Read full post »

Yoani Sánchez, the fearless and forthright Cuban dissident blogger, has posted a thought-provoking reflection on last week’s Organization of American States vote to allow Cuba’s readmission into that organization, from which it had been expelled in 1962. 

There was much (well… Read full post »

It was a lovely morning the other day—the sky mostly clear, with just some wisps of cloud; the temperature around 70°, and a light breeze. It was warm enough early enough that I could sit  on the front porch to do my reading and reflecting.

For… Read full post »

 Peonies open

to the sun's embrace, to be

filled with warming love.

Peonies reach out

for the sun's caress, as I

hunger for your touch.

  Read full post »

Yesterday, one of our sons sent us a link to a mind-blowing video clip in which game developer Peter Molyneux introduces a new video game environment.

As our son said, this is a "game changer." You don't have to even care about video games to appreciate the creative genius and technical mastery… Read full post »

It's that time of year! We're blissfully amid the three weeks or so when people flock to the remaining local farms to fill little containers with sweet, juicy strawberries.

We're all grateful to California and Chile for providing a steady supply of berries during the off-months,… Read full post »

         
The New York Times has an interesting article today about Brian Deese, the young (31!) guy who is a principal (the principal?) player in the Obama administration on the auto industry makeover.

Here's a link, if you're interested: http://www.nytime… Read full post »

It was reported over the weekend that last Tuesday, historian Ronald Takaki died. After suffering for years from MS, Takaki apparently took his own life.

Takaki was a pioneer in studying, and chronicling, the multiethnic history of the United States. Born in Hawaii, a third-generation Japanese A… Read full post »

It's Friday, so it's time for a little diversion.

A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I (and our younger son) were visiting our older son, now out on his own. As we sat around gabbing one day, Son 1 started us going with the old "What 10 movies would… Read full post »

This morning, as is now customary, I sat in the blue easy chair in our family room and looked out for a while at the backyard and the trees beyond. Looking out on the growing spring green through the window glass called to mind a scene from our favorite version of… Read full post »

Looking out at the white birch tree in our backyard this morning, I realized that for some months now I’ve been completely misperceiving it. All winter, while sitting in the family room to read and journal, I’d look from time to time at a particular section of the white birch tree in… Read full post »

Setting: A suburban backyard on a sunny morning in spring. 

Dramatis Personae

The Hunter: A male (probably) Cooper's hawk

 The Hunted: A rock dove, or feral pigeon, of indeterminate (and now irrelevant) gender

Background Note: For the past two ye… Read full post »

My wife showed me a YouTube video she had been sent by a friend. It shows a group of dancers who enter, unannounced, the main hall of Antwerp's central train station and begin dancing to the song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. Along with good unison dancing, the video shows the… Read full post »

Soon after waking up today, when I looked out the back window, I saw three squirrels already bustling around the bird feeder. Squirrels, it seems, eat constantly.

Many people who have bird feeders want to discourage squirrels from taking the seed they put out for birds. They get specially made feeder… Read full post »

Another thing I wrote some weeks ago but finally have a place for. 

Opening Day, thank God, is on the horizon. Last Sunday, while en route somewhere in the car, I popped an exhibition game on the radio and listened to an inning or two of relaxed banter interspersed with game… Read full post »

Something I wrote a couple of weeks ago. We're deeper into spring now, so this moment has passed, but the feeling remains. 

The lush abundance of a summer garden in bloom is intoxicating. But nothing gladdens the heart like the welcome burst of spring flowers, in part because many rise abov… Read full post »

Last year, after many years of overwork and high-on-the-“quantify-your-stress”-chart family changes, I took my wife’s suggestion to address my long-neglected spirit. I read daily in some of her spiritual books, joined her in watching some online talks by spiritual teachers, and trie… Read full post »