Today, June 20, 2024 marks the summer solstice in which we embrace the light. We will get 15 hours and five minutes of illumination from the Sun, today. That's compared to about seven hours and 40 minutes of light on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. So let's do something good with... Continue Reading →
Difficult Times for Moments Like These…
I've been what you might say is WNBA curious lately. Yes, it's because of the Caitlin Clark. If you don't know, Clark is a basketball player who set records for scoring in college while leading her Iowa team to two consecutive finals. Iowa lost both times, but still pretty good. Clark caught everyone's attention because... Continue Reading →
‘I Know a Hawk From a Hammer’
If you know me, you probably know this is a quote inspired from Hamlet when the Danish Prince is describing how he is not always in the grip of madness and can find his way to reality, though he prefers a "handsaw" to a hammer. The quote has been on my mind of late and... Continue Reading →
Laundry, Dishes, Writing… Being Human
What do these things have in common? Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com They're all works in progress that are never quite finished. Anyway, neither am I and I just wanted to drop a note to update you on what's happening with me. I've completed a manuscript but I'm going through it after getting some suggestions... Continue Reading →
You Know When It’s Not Right
Sorry, if you think this is an empowerment piece about leaving bad relationships, it's not. It's kind of the opposite. Though it does seem to be profitable to write about such things these days. No, this is just about my relationship with art and a particular piece. So one thing I like to do, which... Continue Reading →
Fire
Last night, the sirens and horns of the fire engines reached into our neighborhood as I lay down trying to fall asleep. But instead of just fading away as they hurried to some accident on the highway or to help with a blaze somewhere else in the city, they just kept coming. Our dog howled... Continue Reading →
Still Learning Letters and Words
I've told this story before -- but then what stories are not retold. One of my first memories is sitting next to my mom while she read to my brother and me. I think I was about three at the time and this wasn't a picture book. It was a real book, I believe it... Continue Reading →
Snowfall in spring
"Lovely snow, it falls nowhere else." Photo by Gantas Vaiu010diulu0117nas on Pexels.com I think I derived this from two zen quotes -- Layman Pang's, "Beautiful snowflakes; they fall nowhere," and another saying or poem which I can't for the life of me track down. But it went something like this, "The rain does not know... Continue Reading →
Is This A Comedy I See Before Me
In 1999, I visited London and made a point of going to the Globe Theater, then open just two years. For those not familiar with it, it's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre rebuilt in Riverside London, near the original. It's a wonderful, open air theater and you can sit in gallery or stand with the Groundlings. I... Continue Reading →
Winning Wasn’t the Point
It's a lesson I didn't realize I'd even learned, that all those games with my friends, the touch football in the street, baseball in the cul de sac on Arrowhead, the basketball games at the park on Creek Crest, the hide-and-seek marathons on Folsom Drive, the Wiffle Ball home run derby's at Ben's house, none... Continue Reading →
Robert Varnon -- R.D. Varnon 