Category Archives: Ruminations

My wings are missing this morning. I am relatively sure I can no longer fly. But I can pretend, which is the next best thing. If reality doesn’t suit me, I have alternates readily available.

I haven’t tried it, but I wonder how Spanish tapas and dry sherry would taste for breakfast? I think it’s the sherry that has me a little concerned. I’ve never liked booze in the morning (with the very rare exception of a bloody … Continue reading →

We place our trust in people we don’t know because we have no other reasonable choice. Even doing one’s “due diligence” is no guarantee that the doctor or lawyer or electrician will perform well. We simply trust. And, then, we … Continue reading →

I wonder whether I could assemble a group in Hot Springs Village—people who enjoy spicy food—to regularly venture out to restaurants to explore spicy stuff and/or gather at individuals’ homes to make and eat spicy dishes? The answer, of course, … Continue reading →

Superficial thinking is dangerous thinking. It allows determinations without foundations. It breeds certainty where doubt should reside. Shallow, perfunctory explorations of ideas may permit us to claim we have examined issues but, in fact, we have only scratched the surface, leaving understanding to … Continue reading →

I looked out my window yesterday morning and, through the trees, saw a silver sky polished with sunlight. For just a moment, the trees and the sky and the small portion of my neighbor’s driveway that was visible to me … Continue reading →

I had heard the term “the Vapors” around Hot Springs several times, but it wasn’t until yesterday, when I happened upon a woman with whom I share space at the National Park College pottery studio, that I learned a little … Continue reading →

I wonder: Would the super-rich (let’s use the cliché and call them the top one percent) be willing to give up just one half of their wealth if, in so doing, they could assure that every human being on earth … Continue reading →

I envy people who look graceful when they dance. A genetic flaw, I am convinced, is responsible for my awkwardness when I try, and fail, to dance.  But, then, that awkwardness may be more obvious when I dance in public … Continue reading →

I recognize the hypocrisy in me when I express appreciation for access to—and buy—all sorts of foodstuff that comes from Asia, then object to trade agreements that negatively impact workers in the U.S. I wonder if others who share my hypocrisy … Continue reading →

I see things no one else can see, but then so does everyone. No one can see through my eyes, nor can I see through the eyes of another person. That has always bothered me. Wouldn’t it be odd to … Continue reading →

Good coffee is only as good as its roaster and its transformer.

The term, “spiraling out of control,” suggests there should be a corresponding term, “spiraling into control.” But I don’t think such a term is in common use. That leads, of course, to wondering about the etymology of the phrase.

Once you cut the cord, it’s best not to try to splice it back together again. A severed connection may be salvaged, but rarely strengthened. But, then again, truisms are seldom entirely true, are they? If life were as simple as homilies pretend it … Continue reading →

Some people, perhaps most, tend to assign attitudes and attributes to other people based on their experiences with still others with whom the targets of assignments might share some commonality. They might say “Democrats are bleeding hearts who simply do not understand the economics of handouts and … Continue reading →

Something triggers happiness, the same way something triggers sadness or depression. At some point in the future, the electrochemical triggers will have been throughly researched and understood. Humans will have the capacity to use a remote control, much like the … Continue reading →

The discovery of Kepler-452b is just one in a string of discoveries that support my contention that there is life on other planets. It’s not so much a belief as it is an assumption grounded in statistical probabilities. The sheer … Continue reading →

Be alone with yourself and take an honest assessment of who you are. You need not share the assessment with anyone, but be prepared to use it to help you become the person you want to be tomorrow.

Where does one draw the line between right and wrong? While it may be wrong to covet they neighbor’s wife (if one happens to be a devotee of the Ten Commandments), is that sin applicable when said “sin” occurs only … Continue reading →

Some occasions in my youth were moments I’d rather forget, but cannot. I was a miserable bastard at times, a guy whose empathy and sympathy were buried beneath a veneer of idiotic bravado. I don’t know that you can ever truly … Continue reading →

Goat cheese, fresh figs cut in half, and a couple of slices of ripe pear. That would make a  good breakfast, but it would be great as an hors d’ouevre later in the day, accompanied by a bit of dry sherry, … Continue reading →

We humans have accomplished things I find almost impossible to comprehend. The degree of intelligence, creativity, and drive required to get us where we are is beyond anything I could ever have imagined. I wonder, though, whether our creative intellectual … Continue reading →

If you allow yourself to break free of the bonds that hold you back from accomplishing things you can only dream of, you can be and do more than you hoped. You can propel yourself well beyond your dreams; you … Continue reading →

The world folds in on itself and swallows everything you were, all you hoped to be. In place of the person you planned, a new one will grow. Your old experiences and the places they led you will become nourishment … Continue reading →

Some days, I cannot stop myself. I shake and shudder, wondering what the hell I did to deserve to live in this time, to receive all the bounty that I—none of us—ever deserved. It’s stunning, really. This charmed life in … Continue reading →