Jun
09
There’s a buzz in the house this morning, an energy. Maybe it’s the early morning caffeine my sweet wife and I snuck out for. Read More
May
23
Watering the bare patches of lawn, dug up by dogs or withered by neglect, a hummingbird drops by.
When the injustices pile up so high that you can’t see over them, it’s time to act. If you’ve been wronged again and again, to stay silent and not speak is untenable. Where others have fallen, you must stand up and march forth.
I’m referring, of course, to Pizza Hut.
Apr
29
Our dear, darling daughter has finally made her collegiate decision, but it was not without fits and starts. We visited colleges from sea to shining sea over the past few years. Who knew she’d end up on top of a remote hill, in the middle of rural Minnesota?
Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of St. Olaf. Most of her friends haven’t either. They say, “Skye? …. Saint? We never would’ve thought you’d attend a school whose first name is Saint.”
Read More
Beth Gourley puts Marci through her paces like a rat in a maze or a wife on a deck.
Perhaps the very first thing you want to do, when it comes to taking a memory test, is remembering that you took a memory test. There might be something else, but I’ve forgotten it. Read More
Apr
03
NOTES FROM LONDON
It seems the Brits have taken a shine to my ladies. Let me clarify; British restaurant owners love our daughters. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s our girls’ accents. Read More
Apr
01
NOTES FROM LONDON
Contrast. A striking exhibition of unlikeness.
That’s how our good friends over at dictionary.com describe things that are wholly different than each other.
London’s Tower Bridge and City Hall were built more than 100 years apart. The design differences — from boxy to bulbous — show how a city shifts through phases and ages.
It seems they have figured out how to make new friends yet keep the old. Classics share the skyline with contemporaries. There’s room for everyone as long as royally approved sight lines to St. Paul’s remain in tact.
Seriously. According to a very knowledgeable friend, new construction can be as tall as it wants, as long as it doesn’t block traditional views of the famous cathedral. That’s why a new building — still being erected and the highest structure in the EU — has taken on the shape of a pointy shard of glass. Otherwise, it would have blocked views of the dome which have been seen above the city for 300 years.
Ah, London. Urban renewal with a keen eye toward modern aesthetics.
And tradition.
Mar
30
NOTES FROM LONDON
The first time we came to London in Spring, there was snow on the ground. Now, Marci can work on her tan in March.
Read More