milk and honey

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:18:41 -0600

Holy cow! I just love to hear the cicadas’ whirring/clacking. Sounds of summer in Texas.

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 18:20:06 -0600

June 6, 2026 - The Eighty-Second Anniversary of D-Day

I was in the backyard this evening just before 7 o’clock when a squall line blew through. In less than five minutes, the temperature dropped probably 10 degrees, the air — which had been heavy and muggy, a real swampy, soupy gravy — suddenly lightened and dried. The wind kicked up and the trees all whooshed and swayed in their tops. Seven or eight birds — just crows, I think — soared, wings spread to the max on the waves of air. The sky darkened. Not to the green light of tornado weather, but deep gray-blue. And something inside me absolutely vibrated with excitement and a kind of joy.

In five minutes the wind died. And… nothing happened. No rain. No thunder. No lightening. No wind.

But for those few minutes when it felt like a little charge, a little danger, a little excitement, like a little (or a lot of) weather was on the march, it was a happy, thrilling joy. Joy is perhaps too strong a word, but I cannot come up with anything more accurate. I prayed a thank-you prayer, and then came inside.

I am certain that were it not for Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry — their books and their poetry — I wouldn’t have noticed; I would have come inside too soon and missed that brief interlude of aliveness. Thank you, God, for their teaching.

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:47:53 -0600

“A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew Walk Into a Bar”

Worth your time. Noah Eckstein, Harvard 2026:

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:06:47 -0600

“To Thine Own Self…” (Polonius was a real ass)

Jonah Goldberg

The older concepts of civic virtue emphasized self-mastery, conquering your impulses to serve a higher cause. Today’s politics treats self-mastery as suspect, a form of fakery or selling out, while asinine self-exposure is proof of depth and authenticity. The older republican tradition asked whether a man could govern himself before entrusting him with power. The new authenticity politics asks whether he seems sufficiently ungoverned to be trusted. [See, e.g., Graham Platner]

“Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law” is the line from “America the Beautiful.” That idea is a joke…, increasingly, in Washington.

N.B. The next line, “Thy Liberty in Law,” is also a (cruel) joke in Washington these days.

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:02:23 -0600

Hello, Dahlia! Well, hello, Dahlia!

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:58:11 -0600

C’est vrai

A very David-French-y column (that’s a positive adjective in my personal dictionary):

In fact, as the show [Hacks] illustrates, concentrating on differences and even mutual interests is a bit beside the point. The question isn’t “How much are we alike?” Rather, it’s “Can I appreciate and even love the person you are?”

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:19:02 -0600

Here comes summer

Fri, 22 May 2026 08:51:04 -0500

This resonates

Matthew Crawford, via Damon Linker

Capital is concentrated to the point that it operates in quasi-governmental ways, abetted by ever more powerful information technology. Arguably, one of the most important functions of the (actual, elected) government, now, is precisely to restrain and regulate the explosion of unaccountable governmentality in our dealings with outsized commercial enterprises.

The World Beyond Your Head

Ah! If only…

Mon, 18 May 2026 19:23:35 -0500

Finished reading: Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford 📚

Praise him in all the postcodes, thinks Ben.
’______________________________________________________________________

Praise him on the commuter trains: praise him upon the drum and bass. Praise him at the Ritz: praise him in the piss-stained doorways. Praise him in nail bars: praise him with beard oil. Praise him in toddler groups: praise him at food banks. Praise him in the parks and playgrounds: praise him down in the Tube station at midnight. Praise him with doner kebabs: praise him with Michelin stars. Praise him on pirate radio: praise him on LBC and Capital: praise him at Broadcasting House. Praise him at Poundland: praise him at Harvey Nichols. Praise him among the trafficked and exploited: praise him in hipster coffee houses. Praise him in the industrial estates: praise him in leather bars. Praise him on the dancefloors: praise him on the sickbeds. Praise him in the high court of Parliament: praise him in the prisons and crack houses. Praise him at Pride: praise him at Carnival: praise him at Millwall and West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea and Spurs. Praise him at Eid: praise him at High Mass: praise him on Shabbat: praise him in the gospel choirs. Praise him, all who hope: praise him, all who fear: praise him, all who dream: praise him, all who remember. Praise him in trouble. Praise him in joy. Let everything that has breath, give praise.

Wonderful. Highly recommend.

Thu, 14 May 2026 08:57:56 -0500

Guy Clark was right

Tue, 12 May 2026 11:02:08 -0500

Vitex (and a bee)

Tue, 12 May 2026 10:58:36 -0500

Gardenias

Tue, 12 May 2026 09:38:29 -0500

It works

Children really only need one exploit strategy: Be as cute as you possibly can be and get people to love you and take care of you. Fortunately, they are extremely effective at that. – Alison Gopnik (H/T to Austin Kleon)

Sun, 10 May 2026 08:07:35 -0500

Happy (U.S.) Mother’s Day

This photo of my dad and mom (before she was a mom), captures my mother’s fun and sparkle perfectly (and Dad’s kindness, too).

Sat, 09 May 2026 16:10:30 -0500

“Childness”

" … there are these rules that we think of with literature, but in picture books they’re all broken. The main character can be eaten in the middle.”

“What Adults Lose When They Put Down Children’s Books” by Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, May 9, 2026

Sun, 03 May 2026 19:44:18 -0500

Good Question

The pope tried to put an end to this craziness several times. He insisted that he did not speak on world affairs as a politician (and still less a global umpire) but as a witness to gospel truths. He made quite clear that he would not be cowed by the Trump administration, even as he reminded the scribes and influencers that he did not pick a fight with the president. And in doing so, he suggested, if subtly, that there was something a bit awry about the endless media obsession with the president. Did everything and everyone in the world have to be parsed by reference to Donald J. Trump?

George Weigel, “The First Leonine Year” - Dispatch Faith newsletter, May 3, 2026

Sun, 03 May 2026 18:56:22 -0500

Listening to Kate and Anna McGarrigle in the backyard on a beautiful May Sunday afternoon after Tottenham actually play well and win. Pretty damn good, mama. “We were like interlocking pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of life.”

Fri, 01 May 2026 08:21:41 -0500

Another Anole

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:32:01 -0500

Babies!

Prickly Pear

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:27:06 -0500

Pretty simple, no?

Before, the Straits of Hormuz were open to international shipping. A good thing, generally speaking. Now President Trump has successfully given Iran sovereignty over the Straits and they’re closed. Unequivocally, not good. The Art of the Deal!

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:21:49 -0500

Tottenham Hotspur: 118 0 Days Since a Premier League Win

Will wonders never cease. Still in the relegation zone, though.

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 22:07:53 -0500

Perfect Days

Moment by moment by moment, lived gracefully and honorably, makes a life.

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:41:48 -0500

Give Some Love to the Anoles

A Southern gardener’s pal.

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:21:33 -0500

Overwrought NYT

This, from Adam Liptak and Jodi Kantor, strikes me as unwarrantedly high-strung. Read the SCOTUS memos: they’re pretty standard legal back-and-forth based on reasonable arguments on both sides. Nor does the Times show how this led to the Supremes’ “Shadow Docket.”

Chill, kids.

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:55:22 -0500

Bring Me My Whangee

Jeeves,’ I said.

‘Sir?’ said Jeeves. He had been clearing away the breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master’s voice cheesed it courteously.

“You were absolutely right about the weather. It is a juicy morning.”

‘Decidedly, sir.’

‘Spring and all that.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove.’

‘So I have been informed, sir.’

‘Right ho! Then bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes, and the old green Homburg. I’m going into the Park to do pastoral dances.