When I awoke this morning I had little more on my mind than a mid-morning appointment for spinal decompression at the chiropractor’s office. I certainly didn’t imagine I would be moved to philosophic proclamation. I was very much mistaken. There were just so many desirable evolutions today that by late afternoon as I sought to recover my equilibrium and prepare my evening meal I found myself static in the kitchen, wet paper towel in hand, staring at the floor, pondering the scope of what had so agreeably transpired.

It is a pity to ignore the noticeable details of this place. A lifetime of dedication to introversion lends the risk of error. The calculation is not that the local ingredients are negligible rather that one’s internal mechanism more generally characterizes attitude and state of being. This is a mistake. Longboat Key is not just background.  Neither has it the contrived and almost spooky appearance which sometimes insinuates Hilton Head Island.  Longboat Key – though it certainly maintains its own indulgent attributes – has a more obvious architectural freedom and expression. The extent of novelty in turn contributes a dynamic of adventure which enlarges the overall acquaintance. The famous Floridian coastal cloud banks amount to a vast, magnificent and perpetually changing (often by the minute) panorama.

Continue reading →

I am in a state of immobility. My bicycle has been temporarily expropriated. Just as well. I need a break from exercise and monotony – as much as I thrive on them both. Besides sitting alone before my computer, glancing at the gulls soaring like kites in the wind over Sarasota Bay, listening to table music, eating walnuts drowned in maple syrup and sipping chilled espresso is an agreeable way to spend an idle Sunday morning. It’s only approaching ten o’clock and already I’ve showered, eaten breakfast and done a laundry. Thus have I expiated my guilt on the Sabbath!

Today as usual I bicycled to Bayfront Park. Actually I went further along Gulf of Mexico Drive to Block 5000 rather than stopping at Block 4000. At the time it seemed a manageable extension of my normal ride. But as I sit here now – not yet numbed by the handful of analgesics I took a moment ago – I can see that at my age the extra miles are work! On my way back I stopped on the beach for a swim. The weather, though continuing sunny over the next week, appears to be headed into the cooler December temperatures which will naturally affect the sea. I wanted to take advantage today of the cloudless sky and warm weather to swim in the sea before having to relent for a couple of weeks.

As a relic of the legal art
I’m still aroused by words.
And never to the point to say
That law is for the birds.

The reviews have been highly favourable. Other than those about the roll-out nightmares in August of this year at the start of the new model. But assuming it’s not all hype, Ford Motor Company appears to have addressed the problems and the associated bad press.

Continue reading →

I blame the grinding strength of my Starbuck’s Espresso Roast! I’ve replaced the late afternoon cocktail with chilled glass mugs of narcotic caffeine. Since one o’clock this morning I’ve been rattled. After a sleepless hour I relented and got out of bed. Immediately I sat at the computer and reviewed what has lately surfaced as the more fragile pieces I had written, some of them recently, others years ago. What promoted this spirited digestion was the ponderous awakening to both indiscretion and outright failure. It speaks to my personal limitation that these unanticipated realizations were slow to percolate. I am pleased however that they did. As is so often the case the undertaking proved to be one which I had hints of confronting for some time.

When I first arrived on Longboat Key about three years ago it captivated me as magically as Hilton Head Island. As with most things the subsequent familiarity has somewhat dampened the original gusto. Yet for the most part – aside from having accustomed myself to the patina of the sidewalks – it still holds an irrefutable strength quite beyond many other places.

The elves were having an awful time of it! The conveyor belt carrying the Teddy bears, model cars, train sets, smart phones, dolls, doll houses and wind-up toys had jammed no less than three times already this morning and it was only ten o’clock! Now it jammed again. This, of all things, at the busiest time of the year! There remained only days before Christmas Eve, even fewer because they couldn’t really count Christmas Eve itself. Everything had to be packed and onto Santa’s shiny crimson sleigh no later than noon on Christmas Eve if he were to make his worldwide rounds in time. To complicate matters further Santa had lately put on a bit of weight which was having the disadvantage of stealing precious moments in his descent down the chimneys (except of course those in which slick metal liners had been installed although they sometimes propelled Santa with near disastrous results).

Continue reading →

Do you take for philosophy this twaddle, this intolerable pettifoggery adorned with a few scholastic trimmings?

P.-J. Proudhan

Who among us hasn’t occasionally circulated by the stratagem of sharp practice or hair-splitting a distinction without a difference? The innuendo though frequently founded upon earnest pursuit is more often a mark of a trivial quarrel or squabble. Seldom does the skulduggery reach the height of malicious calculation. Where however the pettifoggery descends into corruption or deceit it is intolerable.

Continue reading →