When I came to pick up my son from school, another young boy was having a bad day. He was inconsolable, sobbing loudly in the hall despite the best efforts of the teacher’s aide who took him out. She tried her best to calm him, offering to read or play with him in short, breathy sentences. It was hard to know what was wrong, since he could only respond with one word.
McNews
How many times have we read the really big story on the front of the newspaper with great interest? How often have we talked about it with our friends and colleagues the next day?
The Jebediah Effect
[ This first appeared in Columbus Day Riot, my blog-before-blogs, in 1999. It still works. ]
The Embiggening of Everything
“A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man” is the quote that stands under the statue of Jebediah Springfield in the center of Springfield Park on “The Simpsons”. Forgetting for a moment that this is just a cartoon TV show, this really is a quote for the ages. For one thing, it seems to make a lot of sense even though it is gibberish. For another, it’s cast in bronze and displayed prominently. Can’t beat that as a lesson for our kids.
Public Realm
The world passes slowly by my front porch. On a heavy spring day there is a steady parade of people who go by, mostly on their way to nowhere but some time outside. Our world designates this the “public realm”, the empire of everyone. And so it is.
Four Leaves
Luck is sometimes where you find it. Or how you look for it.
With the damp arrival of spring over, our park has the first clover of the year peeking out of the ground. They are small and round and tender, not much to work with yet. But it’s good to get a head start on clover season.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 