Know where I was yesterday morning? Mission Control in Houston — during a Space Shuttle mission. It’s a really great story, but I’m saving it for last in my series on the Texas Gulf Coast. I think it’s going to be three stories: The Gulf Coast, featuring Beaumont and Orange, […]
Everyone knows Frederick Law Olmstead as the designer of Central Park in New York City, and of many, many beautfiul parks all over the place. I used to take a walk every day in a lovely little park he designed in Concord, New Hampshire. But he was also a travel […]
I decided to take the plunge and buy a scooter. What a gas. I’ve decided to name her Camilla. Not Camilla from Prince Charles and Camilla. Camilla from Froggy and Camilla. You remember Froggy and Camilla. Sure you do. Friends of Anne and Chick. I’ve had a great time scooting […]
The idea of spirits rising from the grave might be spooky in October, but in the springtime, with flowers and trees blooming all around, it’s not so spooky. I spent the whole day driving around on my new scooter, but the very first place I scooted was the West Cemetery […]
I love reading Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe books, and I read them again and again, because I love visiting the old brownstone on 35th Street. My dear departed grandmother had a brownstone on 37th Street or somewhere thereabouts. The plots can be thin, and somewhat contrived, but the overall experience […]
Rev. Dr. Richard Killough of the Sunderland Congregational Church told an interesting story in a sermon he gave last fall about forgiveness. It came to mind recently for reasons I’d rather not go into. Leonardo da Vinci, the story goes, was painting the Last Supper, and he wanted to settle […]
It is a neverending source of amazement to me that my friend Bob Hay, whose personal views on anything and everything can only be described as stodgy, is able in so many areas of art to produce materpieces that are so brilliantly whimsical. For example, his collage of lingerie models […]
I had a chance to see Andrew Bacevich deliver a lecture to the students of Deerfield Academy the other night. There was a notice in the paper, but I think I was the only member of the general public to attend. Maybe it’s one of these old-guy things, but all […]
I’ve been doing some research on the Underground Railroad, and I agree with the many, many writers who say that most of the stories of heroism and courage from this episode in American history will never be told, but I’m finding that there are many fine stories that have been […]
It’s great to get back on my bike, Bullwinkle, after a winter on the stationary bike at the gym. Thankfully I’m not having all the flats I had last year. Knock wood. I’ve found that if I take a nice long bike ride, life is good. Bullwinkle is set up […]