Month: May 2021

After a late start and several interruptions, the flowers are all set in their places, the gardens are ready for the summer and fall seasons. It’s been a struggle this year, but the effort will pay dividends until the first frost in late November. The perennials – azaleas, peonies and native mountain laurels, dogwoods and…

Last evening I met longtime friends for dinner. It was a wonderful time, finally getting together after almost eighteen months. Much too long. I believe they shared my joy in all of us being together after the long dark pandemic. The only thing that could have made the reunion better would have been if Betty,…

This morning I was thinking about what Theodore Roosevelt would say if he were alive. His leadership was extraordinary given what we experience today. There was corruption and serious partisanship then as well, but Roosevelt stood out for his honesty and principled behavior as well as his many accomplishments. Both Democrats and Republicans frequently exhalt…

A friend recently forwarded this article to me and I found it most interesting even though I don’t agree with all the writer’s characterizations. The author, Charles. D. Hayes, is an unabashed liberal and a self-taught philosopher. He was a U.S. Marine and a police officer before a career in the oil industry. His insights…

This past Sunday I went to a party for a dear friend who is a former colleague from my teaching days. The occasion was her 95th birthday. It was a wonderful time and a heartwarming experience. She continues to be an inspiration for all who know her. For me she has been a lodestar since…

How many times have you heard winning politicians rationalize their post-election actions by saying that elections have consequences? At the same time the single vote of each of us has consequences and makes us individually responsible for what ensues from an election. Yet how many times have you cast a vote too quickly or too…

It’s a rainy day in our little mountains and in our nation. The rain here will soon pass and give way to warm sunny days, but I’m not so sure about the rest of the country. Today’s ouster of Liz Cheney from leadership by the Republican right threatens dark days ahead for our constitutional government….

Recently the political news has been mostly about Liz Cheney, U.S. Representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district. Apparently, she is about to be defrocked as the House Republican Conference Chair, the third- highest position in the House Republican leadership for speaking out against Donald Trump. She has been a high profile target of the Republican…

Even with my scurrying about for flowers and garden supplies and working long hours outdoors this past week, I could not escape the din of the political battles going on in Washington and elsewhere. The morning newspapers and evening news continue to be dominated by what amounts to political circus. Working in the garden and…

Unfortunately my absence this last week is not because I have taken a few leisurely days off from writing. It’s because I chose a long time ago to live in the country as opposed to a turn-key place in town. The joys of being here sometimes exact a price which involves hard work. The first…