Rocks in the Head I have always had a thing for rocks. I collect geodes. Lots of geodes. My favorite antiquities are pre-Columbian art, especially the pumice stone statues (one standing woman and two heads) and the pumice stone footed dish. The sculptures I have preferred to collect are usually a composite of rocks and metal. I have my Socrates in Ithaca and my buffalo here in San Diego. I think the reason I favored…
Getting Chile In 1985 I was sitting in our Chairman’s office with five other senior officers of Bankers Trust Company. I was 31 years old and had been with the bank for nine years. I made the first-line officer rank of Assistant Treasurer in 1978, Assistant Vice President in 1980 and Vice President in 1982. This was somewhat of a lockstep, but a lightning-fast lock-step if that isn’t too much of a non-sequitur. The career-track…
The Distant Peaks In my new office I have surrounded myself with things to make me feel good. That’s what we do in life, right? To my right is a NixPlay digital photo frame that shows a continuous array of pictures that my family can send in for my viewing pleasure. I can also download a bunch of travel snapshots and therefore I have my own little memory lane. This helps a lot with my…
Waiting for Popovers It’s Sunday morning, Easter Sunday to be exact. It’s a grey day so far here in San Diego, but as I have learned, that can change quickly, hopefully for the better. Dark Sky, MyRadar and The Weather Channel (a subsidiary of IBM) are of little help as they show no particular weather front over or near us. I am tempted to say that this weather seems to be flying below the radar.…
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…