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Things That I Think I Think

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Huh, odd place to build a mental institution . . . Despite what you may think, I don't write just to bore you. Well, not intentionally. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before - I’m old and tend to repeat myself – but I write a lot: letters to the editor, this blog, long tedious emails. There was a time I even fancied myself a poet.  But mostly I  just  write to figure out what I’m really thinking.  I will often be curious about something, do some Googling (or an occasional AI search) and begin to write about it. Then as I go along, writing and thinking, thinking and writing, I will often arrive at a completely different place. Thus, you always end up getting my well developed and eloquently expressed thoughts.   Okay, maybe not always.  Anyway here’s a special post this month. The depth of winter tends to send we hearty Minnesotans into a sort of cold-induced meditative torpor (when not interrupted by whistles!) I mean what else do we have to do but hunker dow...
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January in History

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  January,   N amed After the G od of Doors,   Janus  (Duh!)   Factoid: The first month of the year, as well as February, were created in 713 BCE by some old Roman. Apparently  before that  they just  went straight from  December to March (something I think we should consider bringing back.) With two faces he could see both the future and the past so n aming the first month after him  makes sense .  As it turns  out, a LOT of interesting stuff has happened the first month of the year. (Of course, lots of stuff happens every month we just don't hear about it.) Here's January's abbreviated list along with clarifying comments by moi. (Come on, you can spare 10 min's to learn a lot!) When Immigration was simple . . . January 1,  1892 - Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened. Over 20 million new arrivals to Ameri c a were processed until its closing in 1954. Sign on Statue of Liberty:  “Give me your tired, your poor, You...
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Solstice 2025

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  AI-Free Every year I say I am going to give up my affection – some might say obsession – for the winter solstice. It appears, however, I just can’t abandon this minor personality disorder. That tiny pinprick of hope at this dark time of the year always draws me back.   For me,  s hortly before June 21st,  i t starts  simply  as low spirits.  Then hour by hour, as the night begins to eat into the days, I  descend into a type of melancholy. Not a wholesale breakdown, mind you, just a Nordic glumness. Somehow, it seems to really hit home in earnest right after the day light saving time change. Is it the earlier sunset that dims my mood? Anyway, the encroaching  darkness throws its ugly shadow over the northland and the cold dreary gloom seems endless.   Yet oddly, like a person clinging to a life raft waiting for a ship on the horizon, I  strangely  look forward to this moment each year.  As they say, it is darkest before t...
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