Bending Metal When I got the idea from my daughter Carolyn to build a playhouse on my back hillside, I was sent pictures of the Ithaca Children’s Garden structure that gave her the idea in the first place. The small structure had thick stucco or adobe walls, a small rounded door in front and another two on the sides, and a planted green roof that was arched with large eve overhangs that made it look…
When Will You Make an End? In the 1965 epic film, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II has commissioned Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) to paint the Sistine Chapel. As we all know, the Sistine Chapel ceiling is the best of the High Renaissance artworks and was finally completed in 1512 after four years of effort by the ornery Michelangelo. In the movie, Pope Julius starts asking Michelangelo regularly, and eventually on…
The Not-So-Great Gatsby I was just reminded that its been 100 years since that summer on West Egg (the North Shore of Long Island) when Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby dallied with the rich and famous of East Egg. Clearly, 1922 was a carefree moment in U.S. history when the War to end all wars was behind them and the world looked like one big party that would never end. The old money crowd was…
The Hanseatic League My vague awareness of Medieval History reminds me that in the Twelfth Century or thereabouts, the craftsmen of the northern Germanic countries of Europe gathered themselves into a massive and extended guild of sorts to protect their interests as they grew their commercial enterprises. This collective or union was called The Hanseatic League and it existed as a powerful business force in the region for several centuries. This confederation was put together…
Prelude to a Hobbit Today was a big day for my back hillside. On the occasion of our friends from Sonoma being in town for the weekend, we gathered my local family (all of whom know our friends very well) and had everyone over for a bagel brunch. I will start by explaining that I have a wonderful bagel deli here in Escondido, which makes life much nicer for me since 50 years of living…
Where to Live There are three considerations that have more impact on our lives than any others. We cannot choose when we live as that is the role of the dice we call procreation, whether you believe in the human soul or reincarnation or whatever. I suppose some people can determine actively or passively through their lifestyle choices, how long they live, but that is a very different issue. The other three considerations are the…
Heading Into Darkness I’ve never been one that was terribly afraid of the dark. As a young child I preferred to have the door cracked open, like most kids, but I also always wanted a glass of water before bedtime. That makes me think it had more to do with wanting some attention and assurance of connectivity than any particular fear of the loss of light. These days we sleep with blackout shades (which Kim…
My Personal Rainbow It is a transitional weather morning here on my hilltop. It rained and was stormy yesterday and last night and it looks like today it wants to alternate between that weather and clear and sunny by tomorrow. I am sitting at my desk on hold with some service provider or another. I have started to be in the habit of acknowledging that I now live on the West Coast and the rest…
The Burden of Refinement We live in a modern, civilized and refined world. The last few nights we have watched some movies set in the late 1950’s and we are reminded that it wasn’t so long ago (a mere sixty years ago) that things were a lot less civilized and refined. We have watched Far From Heaven and Loving, both stories set in that era when I was a young child and when the country…
Thank You for Your Service When I was starting school in 1960 I was in a little tropical valley due east of San Jose. It was literally a one-room schoolhouse where the kids of the expats living and working at the Center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Education in Turrialba, Costa Rica went to school. To be fair, it was only for grades one through eight. After that, kids had to go to high school…