author’s note: To all the penguins out there. WHY I LOVE THE PENGUIN Why did I respond so strongly to that penguin video? Why did I nearly cry when I saw that little fellow waddle over the white Antarctic ice? And why did I sigh when the bird plonked into the chop of the sea then glided in intelligent undulations down and down through deeper shades of blue? It flew through the water on wings…

author’s note: “Life is woof.” – anonymous dog THE HIGH-PITCHED VOICE As I travel this convoluted path I’m accompanied by a strong dog that growls when it senses danger. But if a voice inside then says “go forward” I’ll force myself to ignore the dog and accept unreasonable risk while enduring people who see my way as haphazard. Yes, I worry when the dog begins to whimper in fear but a…

author’s note: Based on a dream. So it must be true. THE GREATER FEAR As I began to wake I began to realize I was scaling a mountain— my destination unknown— hidden in the clouds high above. Having come so far up the side of this vertical rock I decided to keep climbing. And besides—the way down appeared to be very tricky footing. Fortunately the matter at hand helps to distract me from the…

note from a nabob living in interesting times

“In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism.”                    — Spiro Agnew, 1972 I recalled that infamous quote recently, while watching a focus group being interviewed on a morning news show.* The topic was the 2016 political campaign.  When asked to describe how they felt about conditions in the U.S., using just one word or phrase, group…

Not “Fire and Ice”… Not “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”… No, if we’re to remember Robert Frost for one single poem, I think it should be “Mending Wall”… In the poem, two neighbors meet to repair a stone fence that divides their properties.  Each walks along the wall on his own side and puts the fallen stones back into place.  The men perform this chore every Spring.  The poet-narrator…