Category Archives: Uncategorized

December 17, 2013  “If these are my last words, let them be merry.” I said that out loud this afternoon while driving east toward Alton, on the Great River Road. We have snow; tomorrow will be in the fifties. The … Continue reading →

December 11, 2013  I broke my pubic bone, summer of 1989. I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, in Virginia, when I came to a four foot wide crevasse. It was jump across or go back the way I came. … Continue reading →

Tuesday, November 26, 2013 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JOHN BOEHNER is on the telephone.  Voice on the Phone: Mr. Speaker? Boehner: Yes? Voice: Mr, Boehner, I’m your personal representative, from the Affordable Care Act, returning your call? Boehner: Personal—huh. You … Continue reading →

November 24, 2013 Saturday afternoon, and outside it is colder than a witch’s  . . . uh, mammary—thirty mile per hour winds and a twenty degree temperature. There will be no river walk today. So I drive to the Alton … Continue reading →

November 21, 2013  It started five weeks ago—my annual autumn cough. But then it multiplied by six and I was in danger of blowing ribs. I didn’t sleep for four consecutive nights, for hacking and gagging. My voice grew raspy, … Continue reading →

November 19, 2013  I was driving east on Alton’s beltway headed for the mall library? when a ginormous white teen boy and his tiny black girlfriend calmly held hands and stepped onto the highway and crossed not looking left or … Continue reading →

November 16, 2013 I was looking through my shabby wardrobe today and came upon a sport coat. I have never worn it. It was given to me as a remembrance, by the son of the renowned literary critic and University … Continue reading →

November 14, 2013  I’m on the Genehouse Trail, jacketed and with a new black fleece hat pulled over my ears. I’m over-dressed; it’s 50-some degrees out and gentle breezes blow, the river’s flow blown bank to bank, north to south. … Continue reading →

November 13, 2013  This November marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Jack Kennedy. Some people think of the president as iconic. My own opinion is that we’ll never know if he would have been a great leader. Because, … Continue reading →