The root as a metaphor

With all of the troubled times that are happening in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it helps to have a point of reference to draw on. Similes are good because they can take an everyday idea and make it relevant to a particular circumstance. “Cold as ice” works because, well, everyone knows

Watching the sunrise

“Another day is here, and I’m alive to see it,” I told myself this morning as my dog and I watched the sun come up on a beach in Evanston, Illinois. May all of us enjoy the day, both for ourselves and for the people who weren’t lucky enough to be here to greet it.

Fires on the mountain

The Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area of the Great Smoky Mountains–and the word “Great” does apply to this region–is a beautiful place. I’ve been there on a few occasions, beginning when I was ten years old, and I’ve written about it here before. So the news that there are 14 fires burning there right now is very

The best shot was the one I didn’t see coming

On Sunday morning, I got up early and drove my younger daughter to her synchronized skating practice. Upon dropping her off, I realized that the sun would be coming up shortly, and I decided to greet it as it did. The sunrise was a dazzling display of clouds and light and water and sky. The

A Winter’s Gallery

We’re in for one more muggy, uncomfortable day in the 90s today. So I’m going to think of all the snow and ice and Winter that I normally hate so much instead. Let’s hope it works.

Shut down Volkswagen

My parents had a light blue Volkswagen Beetle like the one pictured above when I was a kid, and I called it a “Vopiad” because I couldn’t say “Volkswagen.” It’s a happy memory for me. But those warm fuzzys have been abolished forever by the way Volkswagen has behaved since 2009. They installed software that

Governor Snyder, you can’t fix this

When I think about what’s going on in Flint, Michigan, I get really angry. Whoever thought that giving poisoned water to the public–in order to save money over clean water taken from another source–needed to be reined in by the person who had the authority to do so, and in this case it was the

The calendar says it’s Christmas time

  I must point out that this is not my house. I drove by it yesterday, on my way to work in suburban Chicago. The warm weather, dense fog, and lack of anything suggesting winter temperatures made the collection of lawn ornaments seem forlorn and out of sorts. Everybody has their passions in life, and

The orange sunrise

On my morning commute the other day, I was looking toward the sunrise, waiting to merge into traffic. I was stopped at a red light, fortunately, or I wouldn’t have had the time to get my camera open and take this picture. Filters can allow for any effect at all to be achieved with a

Ridin’ the Storm Out

There’s been a lot of great music written about rain though the years. There’s Purple Rain. Riders on the Storm. Let it rain. “Rain keeps fallin’ down….down…down” But tonight it’s not so cool for me. Rain pouring in buckets have caused the drains in my basement to back up, and the water is rising as

Beauty with a side of thought

Last night, I was watching my older daughter’s play at an outdoor venue in the suburbs. The previous two shows had been cancelled because of rain (such are the perils of outdoor performance), and it looked questionable whether last night’s show would meet with the same fate. But the huge puffy clouds in the sky

No rain, No rainbows

California is a beautiful place, but it needs all the rainbows it can get

A goal for the Earth

I wanted to put some thoughts about Earth Day yesterday, but time got away from me and I got some sleep for a change. Maybe there’s Earth Week to give people like me a bit of a break on that score. I love this planet. It’s filled with so many great and wonderful things that

Inside the landscape

California is filled with beautiful places, and I’m pointing one out in this shot. Panoramics usually don’t render very well on a computer screen, but to know that I was in such a place–and wide awake at the time–is a pretty awesome feeling.

January goes away

If I had to rank the months of the year in order of my personal preference, January would be at or near the bottom. Winter will do that, I’m afraid. So after today, January goes away for a good long time. If all goes well it will come back again, for me and everyone reading

Morning vista

I haven’t had the time or inclination to post here lately. Life throws things at you sometimes, and you make adjustments the best that you can. But the world is a beautiful place, as it has always been.

An idling bus

Yesterday I came upon a bus, idling away as it was waiting to pick up passengers at a community center suburban Chicago. I walked past the bus, and as I did I felt its large exhaust pipe, spewing warm fumes into the air. I asked myself why the bus was left running, as nobody had

Here’s to nature in bloom

The magnolia tree // With its purple-pink splendor // Won’t last long enough

Singing in the Square

I can’t think of too many more beautiful sights than watching the sunset in Key West. And Mallory Square is the one place where everyone goes to see the show. I first learned this from watching the buddy cop movie Running Scared in the 1980s, and a week ago I finally got to experience it

Nature’s beauty in the city

I felt like I should have been in a zoo, as I watched three lovely, full grown swans grazing freely in a public park near the Chicago river. As I got nearer to take their photograph, I expected them to fly away, as most birds would. But they remained calm, and began to chatter among

The Gladness of Nature

Whenever a person starts naming poets, there aren’t too many who would put William Cullen Bryant on their list. He lived in the 19th Century, and he became a lawyer because poetry didn’t pay the bills. He was also a political supporter of another poet named Abraham Lincoln, and he introduced Lincoln at his speech

Happy Earth Day

The world is filled with beautiful things. May we preserve and protect them always.

The sun also rises

Yesterday I took a tour of Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West, and today I’m heading back home to resume my life in Chicago. The Florida keys are awesome, and the sooner I come back here, the better.  

Having too much fun

I’ve been in the Florida keys on Spring Break, and my blog has been neglected as a result. Life is too enjoyable to take time away for blogging. What does this say about the hundreds of things I’ve posted on my blog through the years? I’m not sure, exactly. Maybe I need to find another

Let the day begin

It’s a bit chilly as the sun comes up in the Florida keys. But the sunrise is a great show, and a reminder of how very fortunate we all are to be here.