As a nation, we marched in this direction for years, still it caught everyone off guard. It started with weed. Thirty-seven states already legalized it. Four more headed in that direction. Lots of talk during the months before the election of repealing the federal law altogether—no one enforced it anyway. As soon as he took … Continue reading Death by a Thousand Cuts
Climate Change
The last snow ever…
The last snow ever fell in 2035. I suppose someone got snow in '36, but not where I live. Not in the mid-Atlantic states. We already passed the tipping point, but no one knew this yet. Two slushy inches is hardly worth mentioning, but you asked about it, so here I go. The boys made … Continue reading The last snow ever…
Dog Days
I’m not the one who should be writing about weather. Daily, I read about unprecedented heat in Arizona and millennial flooding in Vermont. Let the Arizona and Vermont bloggers write the weather posts, I thought. It’s pleasant in Gettysburg—high eighties, low nineties. Yes, that’s a little hot, but it’s July, it’s supposed to be hot. … Continue reading Dog Days
Boiled Frog
America is baking. As temperate areas push well into triple digits this week, the media reminds us that global heating is real. Just as real as it was five years ago, when I wrote this essay. After work today, I went for a walk. It's too hot to run, too hot to bike, kind of … Continue reading Boiled Frog
Stimulated
The building where I work I feel like he bought my vote (Biden, not Lincoln). If you’re a middle-class American like me, you’ve probably watched the twists and turns of Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus package with trepidation. What’s in, what’s out, salary cut-offs, rogue senators, Republican derision, that sort of thing. My family … Continue reading Stimulated
I shot a gun once
Fresh out of college, visiting my friend Mike, I told him how my radio died just as I drove into his driveway. I know you’re thinking car-radio, right? But no, I’m writing about a boombox. My brand, new car stereo was on the fritz. The prior Saturday, a different friend, one possessing the electronic know-how … Continue reading I shot a gun once
Resolve #2
Verb: Decide firmly on a course of action. Noun: Firm determination to do something. I’ve written about resolve before—last time, the noun not the verb. On this thirty-first day of the last month of 2018, an errant thunderstorm serves to remind me that climate change is real, it’s here, and it’s messing with the natural order … Continue reading Resolve #2
White Knuckles
My left hand fell asleep. When I was only forty minutes into driving my portion of our return trip from the beach, my hand went numb. I was gripping the wheel too tightly. They call it white knuckles. While growing up, my family annually packed up our station wagon and rented a beach house for … Continue reading White Knuckles
The Other Stuff 