Most people have had the classic children’s stories read to them at one time or another. As small children, we enjoyed them. They were excited to hear and sparked our imagination about how the world worked. If your parents read the story to you, it was also a time to feel a closeness with your parents. What kid doesn’t like having their mom or dad read a story to them?

In the years that followed, many of the people who had these stories read to them went on to read these same stories to their own children. Most of these…

Much has been written in the last year or two about microaggressions. If you are unfamiliar with the term, a microaggression is defined as a “statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group.” Microaggressions are real. They are commonplace. They are unfortunate. What I have to say here is not meant to diminish the degradation that people of these marginalized groups feel when a microaggression has been committed against them.

In a larger sense, we all encounter microaggressions regardless of our ethnicity, gender, affectionate preference, age, or race…

1.Making lists is not real writing, at least not in the classical sense. Resorting to simply making a list robs the reader of an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion. Gone are the literary devices that make for good writing, and instead we are left with a to-do list or some Yelp-inspired ranking of whatever.

2. You are inviting people to make fun of your writing. Already the term “listicles” is appearing in the responses to articles that resort to making lists. Do you really want people making fun of your articles instead of reading and admiring them?

3…

There is an African story of Genesis where the first humans were offered 2 choices. The first choice was they could live forever, to be immortal, but have no children. The second choice was that they could have children, but they would die. While living forever sounded like such a good thing, the prospect of never hearing children’s laughter or being around children took away whatever joy there would be and the world would be a sadder place. The first humans then made the decision to be mortal so that they could have children.

I was reminded of this story…

There has been some speculation and discussion around the topic of whether today’s Republican Party, the party of Trump, could accurately be described as a cult. Supporters immediately bristle when hearing this, while people opposed to Trump generally nod their heads in agreement. My purpose here is to objectively look at the behavior of Donald Trump and his followers, and apply generally accepted criteria to them and ascertain whether today’s Republican Party under Trump can be classified as such. I’m not judging whether Trump and his followers are good or bad, or whether cults themselves are good or bad. I…

The Backdrop

In my mid-40’s, I was a teacher making a reasonable salary, and overtime; I had acquired 6 rental properties which didn’t make me rich but did provide an opportunity to make significantly more money later on when the mortgages were paid down and the rents inched up. I had a credit score of 795. Obtaining credit was a slam dunk. Bankers knew me by name. I didn’t have a single blemish on my credit report. I was a good teacher and a good landlord. I rarely missed work, cared about my students, and cared about my tenants. I made repairs…

Bob Slocum, the protagonist in Joseph Heller’s “Something Happened,” stated that “When I grow up, I want to be a little boy.” I must confess I have used that line more than once when asked what I would like to do in the future. The people of course give me a funny look or a little laugh. But I am serious. What more could I want than to spend my life enjoying the things that made childhood such a special and somewhat mysterious time of my life? We are born into the world a wide-eyed receptacle for whatever comes our…

The story you are about to read is a story about camaraderie, boyhood energy, and the bonding that takes place through group effort. In the building of this cabin, there was no adult supervision. There were no detailed plans. There was no boss, no supervisor. There was no reward save the end result, which was a crude cabin in the woods, a plethora of memories, and a bond between boys that spanned decades.

I came across a picture of it the other day. “The Cabin” is what we called it.

The year was 1975. I was a 17-year-old senior in…