I worked for decades as a man who made a paycheck. Later on in life I became a salesman who made commissions…and this was much better, because companies are willing to fork over way, way more if they can call it commissions instead of wages. I remember when I was […]

It’s gonna be a sweltering day, yet we’ve learned in the office that we can live without air conditioning. We turn on a big fan and open a lot of windows….we used to keep it cool as a cuke until we got the $200 a month bill. Funny how quickly […]

When James Hunter was growing up in Colchester, England, I bet he listened to a much different bunch of records than his mates.  I can see a whole lot of Sam Cooke, old Elvis, and maybe some ska records on his teenaged turntable, instead of what his peers might have […]

Last night I sat by a fire with two new friends. One was a well-known graphic designer in town, who had biked over and after we said good bye he said he had 12 miles to pedal.  My other host told me when I admired her restaurant stove that she […]

This is from CNN, a transcript of a recent interview with Howie Kurtz and David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker. I had the honor of being rejected by the magazine a few weeks ago.  But my friend who works there was very nice saying that often stories he suggests […]

It’s finally feeling like summer, and that’s a relief after our spring fits and starts.  Summer always used to mean swimming, but it’s been nearly a decade since I enjoyed a dip in the local river.  We drove over to Deerfield Academy and began the walk. I always say, when […]

The WSJ headline had “Blood Diamonds” in it, and today I learned about Angola’s flourishing and persecuted garimpeiros. These are the legions of poor men who make a living using a screen and a shovel to wash gravel in shallow mines, for diamonds.  Unlike in South Africa where mines go […]

It’s June 18, and yet it feels like we’re in the midst of July. On the radio, I heard Tim Nourse of the strawberry farms say that all of the berries were a week early.  And that he expected to be seeing sweet corn at farmstands a few weeks early […]