Author Archives: John Swinburn

The task of completing the house in which we live is a never-ending process. I tire of looking at unfinished wood trim. I grow weary of noticing the intersections of walls and doors, where old paint is exposed next to … Continue reading →

As I skimmed Facebook posts yesterday, I came across one that tickled my fancy. Ostensibly, the post represented the way young children who are learning the English language compensate when they encounter situations or circumstances for which their command of … Continue reading →

The news from my visit to the oncologist yesterday was as I had hoped: nothing new. No changes; no indications of anything untoward taking place at the cellular level, no need to be concerned in the least. So, consuming the … Continue reading →

I am making this up. Except I’m mixing reality with fantasy. I am not prepared to reveal what is real and what is decidedly false. So here I go. +++ The light beige liquid is cold. Try as they might, … Continue reading →

Yesterday morning, as my sister-in-law and I were heading into Hot Springs for pre-dawn breakfast, I gazed up at the sky through the open moon roof. My head back and eyes trained on the clear sky above, midway between warm … Continue reading →

After a short brush with winter, temperatures are beginning to moderate; proving, again, that the third week of October can remain harsh and summer-like. Although, to be fair, 61°F does not feel especially summer-like. The expected high of 81°F, though, … Continue reading →

Bona fide creativity is thick and bulky and as rare as ice on the surface of the sun.  Creativity—the real stuff, not the version made of artificial ideas bent and shaped to look authentic—is in short supply. Stand-in creativity, made … Continue reading →

When I saw her two days ago, my primary care physician’s advanced practice nurse ordered four lab tests. I suspect the tests will reveal nothing of consequence. A CT scan—or several different types of CT scans—are more likely to reveal … Continue reading →

Let me be very clear, first: I adamantly oppose as inexcusable harassing behavior—too common among too many men—in which people are treated as objects. Yet, even as I find harassment offensive and inexcusable, I cannot precisely define the point at … Continue reading →

Governance these days relies less on persuasive guidance and more on raw power. The strength of authority that accompanies a politician’s position is far more important than leadership finesse. Whereas a politician’s  ability to rally her supporters once was the … Continue reading →

This morning, I have an appointment with my oncologist’s office to have blood work done in advance of my next follow-up visit, a week from today. The follow-up visit will include a CT scan, another routine follow-up intended to catch … Continue reading →

Finally, after weeks of living in fear that we had experienced the very last rainfall—weeks when the soil dried, then hardened into dusty rock. Weeks of watching robust shrubs wither. Weeks of fearing the air would become so parched it … Continue reading →

For years, I have wondered why so much of the agricultural land I drive through on the side of the highway is devoted to corn and soybeans, as opposed to crops geared toward feeding humans. This morning, by chance, I … Continue reading →

Emptiness. That’s what my sleep has been of late. No dreams. Just an absence of consciousness. A state of being in which I am utterly unaware of myself and my context. Although, somewhere in my brain and in every organ … Continue reading →

Last night’s thunder was just a tease. It brought a moment of rain, but left the ground thirsty for more. We assume weather patterns will repeat themselves; we are certain we can always rely on October rain until October rain … Continue reading →

I finished my bachelor’s degree in about three and one-half years, graduating without fanfare and without ceremony in December 1975.  Although I think graduation ceremonies were available for mid-year graduates who completed their degree requirements outside the normal May-June cycle, … Continue reading →

Not just beautiful, though — the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they’re watching me. ~ Haruki Murakami ~ +++ My decision to go to bed early last night was deliberate; I made that … Continue reading →

Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness. ~ John Ruskin ~ +++ For every possession, there is another place. Another placeholder that can be misremembered or forgotten. Another “thing” whose location must be recalled if the “thing” is … Continue reading →

The forest beyond my window may be full of night creatures—deer, racoons, skunks, coyotes, foxes, and so on—but the pre-dawn darkness holds fast to the mysteries of the night, refusing to visually reveal those beasts. By lighting a cone of … Continue reading →

People can be magnificent, giving, caring creatures. But they can be monsters, as well. There’s a battle going on, an undeclared war between humanity as we wish it to be and humanity as it is. We’re soldiers in that war, … Continue reading →

It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. ~ Thomas Paine ~ “…mentally … Continue reading →

I grew up in reasonably close proximity to farm fields, but I never got close enough to learn anything of consequence about them. I recall—but only vaguely—when the stubble remaining in the fields was set ablaze after harvest. Heavy smoke … Continue reading →

Which is stronger: an oak tree or a single reed of bamboo? I suppose the question requires amplification; and explanation of qualifiers, if any. Amplification of matters such as both absolute and relative ages of the oak and bamboo. And … Continue reading →

News of the ongoing aftermath of Hurricane Ian is troubling. So is news of the worsening drought that threatens to do immense—and possibly catastrophic—damage to agricultural concerns in the western U.S. and to potable water supplies throughout the west, southwest, … Continue reading →

Long for me as I for you, forgetting, what will be inevitable, the long black aftermath of pain. ~ Malcolm Lowry ~ +++ The demons remain. Perhaps they always will. There is considerable literature out in the world that counsels … Continue reading →