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What is common?
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Been doing some thinking about squirrels
and especially squirrels as pets. John Singleton Copley painted his delightful subject, nine-year-old Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, in 1771. You can visit with the imp at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, and I often have. Perhaps because I’ll dealing with some especially dark subject matter these days in my professional life, my mind likes to veer when…
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Melancholy and rapture
would be pretty good words to characterize the music I heard recently, performed by my friend pianist Beth Levin at Merkin Hall in Manhattan. Outside the concert venue, pin oaks held tight to their leaves in the autumn gloaming. The piece Beth played, Pictures at an Exhibition, by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, has stayed with me.…
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Road trip revelations big and small
included some arresting sights, such as the Wisconsin highway barn painted in mile-high letters by people who obviously wanted to get their message across. These guys should work on Madison Avenue. OKAY, WE HEAR YOU! A flock of blue jays, one of which left a memento behind for someone (me) desiring signs and best wishes for…
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What is luck?
You make your own, yada yada. Had a friend who always said we were so lucky. Why? Dunno, just are. It’s our luck to find a dino and a rocking horse hanging out together while we’re first embarking on our trip cross country. Maud says, Luck is being afforded an opportunity not of your own making. Also, health and…
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A nice trail at a nice time
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Life being somewhat complicated and challenging
at times, it is awfully good to focus on the basics: coffee, tacos, and dogs. Fortunately there is an abundance of all three in Austin, Texas, where I happen to be sojourning for several days. I knew good things were in store when I spotted the taco food truck actually inside the airport terminal. It was…
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The numbers are in, and the black bear lost.
Across New York State, where I live, hunters took 1,346 black bears during 2021. DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos declared, “Although they aren’t always successful, thousands of dedicated hunters venturing afield each year help keep populations [of black bears] at desired levels, maintaining healthy bear populations in the state.” Both bows and muzzleloaders came into play. The heaviest…
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The grand dame
that is the Grand Concourse in the Bronx has certainly seen better days. But there is still an awful lot of life there. Crews are installing new sidewalks and new medians separating the wide boulevards (2 lanes and a service road in each direction). They need a tree inspector to make sure no harm comes…