My lifelong relationship with Thoreau, Emerson, Robert Frost and a host of notable American authors and poets stems from those days in Bill’s classroom and on many of the walks that we would take, especially on warm, sunny days. His was an expansive grasp of American literature, as well as history.…
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richard derosa
One aspect of this perennial circus that I would like to see done away with is the placing of signs everywhere—lawns, intersections, buildings, cars, etc. My wife has been a bit grumpy with me because I have insisted that we not place a sign at the bottom of our driveway divulging to all the world our preferred candidate.…
White faces, black faces, yellow faces, what a wonderful pallet of what America is and always has been about, a stewpot of all kinds of people from incredibly diverse backgrounds, all sharing in the joy they feel at the accomplishments of their fellow citizens. This color thing has always puzzled me.…
This annual garlic adventure of mine turns out to be a time to wrestle, without having to pin them down, some of the more worrisome problems we now face “in these United States.” It is easy to ignore unpleasantness; even harder to know what to do about it. As I was hanging up the last of the garlic, I was thinking of W.B. Yeats’ great poem, “The Second Coming.”…
I am aware of the extent to which grilling and manliness go hand in hand. By that account, as well as others, it appears that I fall short with respect to any acceptable measure of masculinity. Since I have never allowed specious stereotypes to stand in my way or diminish my sense of self, so be it. Men, if grilling satisfies some inner need, be my guest.…
Gardening is a labor of love, but over time the labor part trumps the love part—knees ache faster, arthritic digits stiffen, lower backs get creaky. We are committed to sitting down and making the hard cuts. We no longer need the quantities we’ve become accustomed to.…
The other thing those lovely red birds reminded me of was the impossibility of ever really understanding what we refer to as the “other.” We could scrutinize one another for an infinity of lifetimes and never bridge the gaps that separate us.…
One news tidbit today had to do with how much money each of the presidential candidates has amassed. I gave up donating money to political campaigns some time ago. I would rather donate my money to organizations that focus on urgent needs, such as hunger and eradicating malaria.…
There are all kinds of warfare. The ideological and political warfare raging across our country these days is as disturbing as it is, unfortunately, quite predictable.…
Years ago, when birding in Costa Rica, I remember the excitement of seeing my first Wilson’s warbler. I knew what it looked like, its habitat and feeding preferences, and with the help of an experienced guide was able to see one for several minutes up close.…