Lately I’ve seen people online writing “ginormous.” It means big. But it means big with three underlines, in caps, with bold, italics, red, and blinking. It reminds me of this line from Jane Austen:

And from her correspondence with her sister there was still less to be learnt, for her letters to Kitty, though rather longer, […]

On Friday I learned that I do not have consumption! Anyone who reads Russian novels must know what good news this is. Is there any Russian novel that neglects to include a character dying of consumption? I am very thankful to be free of this dreadful sickness.
I didn’t actually suspect myself of consumption (at least […]

This is my cat Eek. She likes to sleep and purr. Well, she isn’t really mine, but I named her, and she loves me best. When my parents move to Colorado, they will leave her with me lest some coyote swallow her. She is pretty spry, despite her age, but out there she wouldn’t stand […]

’Tis not in mortals to command success;
But we’ll do more, Sempronius: we’ll deserve it.
—Cato in Joseph Addison’s Cato, Act I Scene ii.

I think these lines are great comfort when our best efforts come to naught. They remind us that not all things are within our power. We […]

I’ve been reading Life of Greece by Will Durant lately. Here is a charming anecdote about Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse and suzerain of Sicily. This is the same Gelon who in 480 saved the western colonies by repelling the Carthaginian hordes at Himera—according to tradition on the same day the Athenians bested Xerxes at Salamis:

“Gelon […]

I just finished listening to Elgar’s Wand of Youth Suite 1 on KUSC, performed by the Ulster Orchestra with Bryden Thompson conducting. I admit I don’t know anything about music, but I think Elgar captured something wonderful. The beginning was feverish, but not flippant, and I was struck with the thought, What is so solemn […]

Once I start taking pictures, it’s hard to stop.

No, this post has nothing to do with that law California passed a few years ago. I said “pots,” plural.
I grew up with a white rose bush just outside my bedroom window (featured in the snow pictures earlier). Since my window was usually open, I could smell […]

Well, it’s eleven o’clock, and things are back to normal around here:

I awoke this morning to snow outside. It hasn’t snowed here in some years, so I grabbed my camera. I wasn’t the only one. Across the street a girl was taking pictures while her mother stood on the front porch trying to call her in. “Just one more!” For some of these shots I used […]

I’ve been trying to write an account of my summer travels for some months now, but everything I’ve written has been too personal to post on a public website. Here is something that I hope is suitable. Now that it is written, perhaps I will be less derelict with this blog:
Dear Friends,
It’s been a long […]