Probably the most profound thing I’ve read today, if not this year. A pediatrician in South Africa, Alastair McAlpine, who works with terminally ill children, asked them what was important to them, what they liked doing, and what they’ll miss when they’re gone. The children, aged four to nine, talked about their pets and howContinue reading “The Wisdom of Children”
Category Archives: Life
Cold Weather, Hot Breakfast
The cold snap, which has seen temperatures below zero and wind chills well below zero, should end in the next few days. It won’t be warm, but we’ll at least see the thirties again. On an unspeakably cold day like today, you need something warm to eat, and for that I turned to Grape Nuts.Continue reading “Cold Weather, Hot Breakfast”
The Great Bomb Cyclone of 2018
There are things you don’t want to feel while driving. Your car, moving 60 miles an hour, shoved about three feet to the left is one of those things. The commute home wasn’t bad. At least in the Baltimore-York corridor, the Great Bomb Cyclone Blizzard of 2018 was a lot of sound and fury, signifyingContinue reading “The Great Bomb Cyclone of 2018”
Pi Day Planning
Pi Day is one of those geekish holidays that I don’t pay much attention. Pi Day, by the way, is March 14th. 3/14. Ie., 3.141592653589793. The circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. π. Fifteen digits of π is all NASA needs for its interplanetary missions. A calculation of the circumference of a circleContinue reading “Pi Day Planning”
Winter Misanthropy
The new year began with a day bereft of human contact, save for the online kind. At midnight, there was the sound of distant fireworks and gunfire. I’ve often likened it to the sound of artillery shelling. I wonder how people from Sarajevo or Aleppo would react. I didn’t even sleep late today. But IContinue reading “Winter Misanthropy”
On the Year That Was, 2017
With 2017 drawing to a close and 2018 about to begin, I decided to take a look back at 2016 and spotlight the best (or most significant) blog post of each month. John Hurt, a Reminisence – Sir John Hurt died, aged 77, of pancreatic cancer. I can’t say that what I wrote was profound,Continue reading “On the Year That Was, 2017”
A Grocery Store Encounter
I was at the grocery store yesterday — my stock of tea at the office is much diminished and needed replenishment — and, like usual, I asked the cashier, an older woman, probably in her sixties, how she was. (When I say, “like usual,” it’s a habit born of years of retail. I try notContinue reading “A Grocery Store Encounter”
Christmas Cards for Strangers
I walked into Dallastown this morning and mailed over a dozen Christmas cards, all to people I don't know and have never met. Madonna and child stamps, my favorite Christmas stamps every year. The recipients are all distant cousins, all descendants of my great-great-grandfather through his eldest three daughters, two of whom I had noContinue reading “Christmas Cards for Strangers”
Adventures in the Kitchen with Cranberry Relish
As a long-time NPR listener, every Thanksgiving I’ve heard about “Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish,” and this year was no exception. Stamberg made it with her granddaughter, and the granddaughter’s verdict was, “I’m never tasting it again.” I’ve never made it, I’ve never had it (as I think I’d remember a cranberry relish made with onionContinue reading “Adventures in the Kitchen with Cranberry Relish”
Coloring Christmas
After work I stopped at the grocery store, the Giant off Queen Street, because, obviously, I needed some groceries. Bread, peanut butter, milk, that sort of thing. Life’s essentials. While I was there, I browsed the magazine rack. There, on the bottom shelf, was a row of adult coloring books. Or, more accurately, magazines. I’mContinue reading “Coloring Christmas”