The first week of March we spent a few days at Lake Nockamixon State Park while Villanova was on break. Hiking through the wintry snow was a lot of fun, particularly considering that this time we had rented a little cabin With Heat. We were the only ones there. We are amateur mycologists, and I was amazed to find a group of very fresh jelly-like mushrooms growing on a log almost buried in snow. Mushrooms can sprout and thrive at all times of the year, even in snowy winter. What a tribute to how Mother Nature never truly sleeps, but each species has its own time. How much fun, and how encouraging, to experience this on a wintry hike!
March 11, 2010
February 11, 2010
Backpacking in the Blizzard of 2010
It was a winter wonderland on our backpacking overnight camp in the woods in the middle of the Blizzard of 2010. Beautiful snow.
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February 10, 2010
New York Cabs Gouged Riders Out of Millions (NYTimes)
The New York Times reported how thousands of passengers in NYC cabs were charged at double the legal rate for their area. Many drivers are honest, but there is no question that this fraud was well known both by cab drivers and the regulatory agency. Click Comment for my comment and selected comments by other NYTime’s readers. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/nyregion/13taxi.html?th&emc=th
Demystifying Online Dating (NYTimes 2/13/10)
This article was a Valentine’s Day offering by the NYTimes. Click Comments for my posted responses.
January 26, 2010
How Quakers Can “Support the Troops” Friends Journal
I submitted the following in response to an article in Friends Journal (February, 2010) asking how can we support the troops without also supporting the war. (more…)
January 17, 2010
Healthy Aging, With Nary a Supplement (NYTimes 1/11/10)
I contributed the following post to the discussion that followed this NYTimes article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12brod.html?ref=health :
This is the best article in the magazine section today (and perhaps the only one to tell the unvarnished truth). My wife and I (in our 60’s) hike, camp, backpack outdoors, but most days simply walk. We eat relatively healthy (but don’t obsess over food choices) and take no medications. When I say we take no pills, most friends seem amazed. Sometimes their response feels critical or angry, because they see my behavior as implicit criticism of their lifestyle. Living healthy doesn’t mean you don’t get sick — I’m getting over a month of viral bronchitis. I’m usually surrounded by many young people, both healthy and sick, and we all get sick at times.
See Comment for my responses to two related NYTimes articles regarding healthy living.
January 1, 2010
As Honor Students Multiply, Who Really Is One? (NYTimes 1/1/10)
The following is my comment (#75) on the NYTimes article in the title above. Click my comment button for my second comment (#177) on this same article.
Honor societies often mean essentially nothing nowadays. I agree with the many comments that have already made this point. I disagree with #8 who says today’s students work harder. Number 8 and I are each expressing our own experience, but I expected much more work out of my students 40 years ago than I can expect today (and still keep my job). When I graduated from high school, there were four “recognitions” in the entire class of more than 100. My daughter regularly ignored various honor offers she received during her college years. I had to persuade her that $35 for a lifetime membership in Phi Beta Kappa was probably a worthwhile deal — she had dumped the letter.
December 5, 2009
What do we mean by the much-used phrase “middle class”?
Click Comment to read my response to a friend’s blog post that discussed “middle class” spending habits:
December 2, 2009
The impossible search for “normal” in sexuality.
I contributed the following posts to the discussion that followed Women Who Want to Want – NYTimes.com by Daniel Bergner (November 24, 2009). A mediocre article generated some interesting comments. I feel sorry for some very unhappy, frustrated and confused people out there. Societal pressure is no help and often can make things worse. (more…)
Political Correctness, and Liberals and Conservatives (so-called)
I consider myself to be liberal in that I believe in freedom of thought and expression. Political Correctness hampers the thought process through the enforcement of linguistic conventions. I contributed the following post to the discussion that followed Political Correctness Revisited – NYTimes.com by Stanley Fish (November 30, 2009). The author was concerned that there are a disproportionate number of “liberals” in the liberal arts of universities and that they aren’t liberal anyhow and misuse tenure to push their own agenda. Other commentators offered explanations for why there would be relatively few conservatives in the liberal arts and relatively few liberals in business. (more…)