Fifth Installment: A Thin Slice of Sky

Animals   Vaccinating the Hog   The meaning of the cliché, “he squalled like a stuck pig,” held no significance for me until the night Dad asked me to help him vaccinate. The light was poor in the musty barn. As we rustled about making preparations, the pig sensed something unwelcome was coming his way. [...]

From Tocqueville on President’s Day

“The civilization of New England has been like a beacon, lit upon a hill, which, after it has diffused its warmth immediately around it, also tinges the distant horizon with its glow.” “The foundation of New England was a novel spectacle,” not by “speculators and adventurers greedy of gain.” “The settlers all belonged to the [...]

Recent Reading

I recently finished Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Racine’s Phaedra. For respite from the hilarity of these texts, I’ve resorted to listening to “Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down” on CD and reading Twain’s The Innocents Abroad. Right now I’m mining the amazing thoughts in Crowds and [...]