Why I’m taking a knee today

If you wanted to be somebody at my high school (which no longer exists, by the way) you had to be on the football team. There were other sports teams and activities, but the attention that was given to the football team made many of my classmates put in the time and effort that were

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

And the lady she hails from Trinidad

Flying back home from a week in the Florida Keys was not something that I wanted to do, but the bills that will come in the mail someday must be paid. And while my two children could spend all their days on Duval Street, their teachers here in Chicago might eventually hold it against them.

Pay to park

I spent a lot of money on my trip to the Florida Keys. Parking was possibly the least of my expenses, but in some ways it was the biggest bargain of all. My advice to anyone who reads this is go to Key West, and pay what you have to in order to park your

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.

I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache

Actually I don’t, but I’ve always thought of this song as a distillation of the ethos that fuels much of this blog. It’s about nostalgia for the past, in a world that no longer remembers–or cares much about–the subjects in the remembrances. Just the way that it used to be. I’m heading down to the