One of the joys of travel is stumbling upon roadside curiosities. On my pilgrimage to visit a favorite hero of King Philip’s War I came across a monument to the Rhode Island Red that drew my attention. The Rhode Island Red is a hen, of course, that famously and productively laid eggs particularly well, which…
“I am proud of my heart alone, it is the sole source of everything, all our strength, happiness and misery. All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther I was thinking about Goethe after my traveling companion…
“We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are — as far as we know — the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. We could even…
“We can park the van and walk to town Find the cheapest bottle of wine that we could find And talk about the road behind How getting lost is not a waste of time Le Bois d’Amour will take us home And in a moment we will sing as the forest sleeps” – Jack Johnson,…
“Everything that feels soulful in life is inefficient. All the vacations that we find very soulful are inefficient places. The food that we really, really like and find soulful are inefficient to cook… maybe soulfulness is a function of chaos and inefficiency… It is impossible to imagine scaling in life without standardizing. And standardizing is…
Past Peak It’s hard to believe, but the flowers in the garden are past peak. While still beautiful, it’s clear that the vibrant burst of color seen just days ago is waining. In particular, the Yucca and Tiger Lillies have faded slightly, and some of the bee balm is starting to fade as well, though…