Consulting the Oracle A few years ago on a motorcycle trip through Greece, one of our last stops before heading into the barn in Athens was the Oracle at Delphi. The Delphic Oracle used to be called Pythia and it is a place where gaseous fumes from the subterranean realm sent high priestesses into rants and visions which came to be interpreted by ancient Greeks as prophecies. Some Greek historians say they were gibberish that…
Adventure in Paradise Today I reestablished a connection to the real world. I am declaring that lockdown is simply not real. When I think of lockdown, I will forever think of a rainy downpour and zero visibility. That pretty much describes what it’s been like here this week. My handyman Brad has been hunkered down at home since the work I have for him is outdoors and it has been miserable. Brad has managed the…
My Easter Bonnet I must start today with this EXTRA story. I have been reasonably disciplined in only posting one story per day for the last several months, but at the moment feel compelled to write this extra story. This morning is again a blustery weather day here in San Diego. I have an app on my devices that is called Dark Sky (a very ominous name made more ominous in these days of overthinking…
Holding Back the Rain We’ve begun watching a BBC series on Netflix called Call the Midwife, which is a period series set in the East End of London in the 1950’s, the decade of my own birth. It is the story of a young nurse, Jenny, who goes to work in the early days of the British National Health Service. She has trained as a nurse and midwife, but is sent into the bowels of…
Had a Car Like That Once Myself Today I saw a ray of hope that life as we know it may still go on. I bought a BMW R1250GS Adventure motorcycle from a friend up in Dutchess County. As I have written, he had a bad accident and has to sell an almost new motorcycle that he can no longer ride (technically, his wife says he can no longer ride). Since he is getting around…
The Mask of the Old Lone Ranger In 1961 I was seven years old and intended to start second grade in that Fall at the Spring Harbor School in Madison, Wisconsin. We had moved that summer from Turrialba, Cost Rica and I was going to transition from a one-room schoolhouse on the grounds of the Institute where by mother worked and we lived, to a middle-American suburban grade school during what has come to be…
Going to War In 1972 I turned eighteen, which in those days was the age of majority on all fronts. At eighteen you could drive (even at night), you could drink (hopefully not before driving), you could vote (the 26th Amendment passed in 1970), and you could fight for your country without your parents’ permission (the single biggest argument favoring the 26th amendment). We needed young men (young women could also join but could not…
The Life of the Mind Today I had occasion to speak to a friend and colleague I worked with thirteen years ago and and saw probably five years ago. I have given him my blog address so, full disclosure, he may well be reading this just as you are reading this. Why do I mention that, because I am forever getting into hot water with people who share things with me and then find themselves…
Sucking the Marrow It’s late in the afternoon, but not so late that the sun is yet setting. My day starts early out here in San Diego. That is especially so on Tuesdays because Wednesday may be Prince Spaghetti Day (for those of you who grew up in or near Lowell, Mass.), but Tuesday is CEO Management Day. It is the day we get everyone together to update ourselves on what everybody is doing to…
It’s A Complicated World As I’ve been sending out my magnum opus to my friends, my 444-page coffee-table book about twenty-five years of motorcycle riding, called The Ride is All, it has given me cause to reconnect with a few friends who had fallen by the wayside. I am rewatching (for the umpteenth time) one of my favorite recent vintage movies, Green Book with Vigo Mortensen. As Tony Lip (Vigo) is driving Don Shirley (Mahershala…