If one were to listen only to the sentimental jazz tunes from the American songbook of the 1940s there’d be no question that the most austere life is one spent alone. Every ditty promotes a sometimes wistful though always loving companionship. And while I won’t contest the aspiration I nonetheless ascribe on some occasions at least no inconsiderable merit to the alternative – being on one’s own.  An ancient friend of mine once remarked that he savoured dining alone because he had the best possible company. Unquestionably there was a measure of arrogance in the pleasantry – he wasn’t the most modest person. But I have sufficient confidence in the relic’s wisdom to allow for a kernel of truth in the quip. Indeed if I were to reflect but a moment on the occasions when I have dined alone the reminiscences are unequivocally fond though perhaps sometimes glossed with a patina of melancholy.

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Certainly the most elemental matter in providing any answer is first to define the question. One might for example question why we have a legal system. The question is not as preposterous as initially appears. Lawlessness is a lack of “Law” in any of the various senses of that word. Indeed there is a philosophy of anarchism – “a social philosophy that rejects authoritarian government and maintains that voluntary institutions are best suited to express man’s natural social tendencies.” George Woodcock “Anarchism” at The Encyclopedia of Philosophy; further, “anarchists are opposed to irrational (e.g., illegitimate) authority, in other words, hierarchy — hierarchy being the institutionalisation of authority within a society”; and, “That is why Anarchy, when it works to destroy authority in all its aspects, when it demands the abrogation of laws and the abolition of the mechanism that serves to impose them, when it refuses all hierarchical organisation and preaches free agreement — at the same time strives to maintain and enlarge the precious kernel of social customs without which no human or animal society can exist.” Peter Kropotkin, Anarchism: its philosophy and idea.

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Admittedly I have a passion bordering on neurotic for closure.  I love to put the lid on things. Perhaps it has something to do with rejuvenation. At the very least it’s a sense of resolution. Without the drama, the ceremony – whatever it entails, whether strictly business or highly personal – is a closing down or discontinuation.  Frequently my mania for this conclusion is spirited by general impatience. The goal is always pursued with utter lack of compromise, accommodation or delay. It has to be a weakness of mine that once I get an idea in my head I won’t let it go until it is accomplished. In any event I am emboldened in my commitment to this latest determination by my conviction that I have all my wits about me and that the decision is prudent. It’s an enterprise which has rankled me for some time. At last I’m doing something about it. From this day forth I’m done with entertaining.

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Although President Donald Trump’s use of cryptic language is normally understood by even the lowest common denominator, certain words suffer misconstruction due to auditory distortion. Take his use of “bigly” for example.  Apparently what he’s actually saying is “big league “. In either case the assumption is that he’s using the word or phrase as an adverb, something to modify a verb, as in “We won bigly” or  “I intend to do something bigly”. If what he is really saying is “big league ” it still amounts to doing something on a grand scale and therefore the sense or meaning in either case is relatively clear even if both renditions are paradoxically more poetic than prosaic.

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Today is Mother’s Day.  By all accounts our family enjoyed a topping celebration of the day with my mother at her retirement residence (or what she fancifully calls the “Nut House”).  I had originally proposed to bring Chinese take-out food for lunch but my sister suggested instead that we rally mid-afternoon in the upstairs lounge of the retirement residence for cheese, crackers and wine.  Our contribution switched to crudités. It all worked out perfectly. The lounge, complete with a fireplace, is welcoming and intimate, lovely views through numerous tall windows, suitable lounge chairs, even a wet bar.

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My professional career – which is to say the bulk of the last forty years of my life – revolved around banks, lawyers, real estate agents and insurance agents. Some might suggest it was an unfortunate conglomerate. Though it is popular to sing the adage, “The only thing worse than a lawyer at a party is two of them!”, from my point of view the hands-down winner is banks.

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Years ago when I was practicing law – and regularly drinking scotch whiskey in the evenings before dinner – it was not uncommon for me to have a lengthy telephone conversation with a friend in Ottawa who did the same thing.  Things have changed since those days.  My friend has moved thousands of miles away and I quit drinking entirely.  He did not.  This evening I talked to him again (around the cocktail hour, his time – about three hours behind here) and he as usual was drinking.

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My paternal grandfather was hooked on watches. He had something like forty of them when he died. I inherited several – an 18K gold Pochelon Frères, Genève dress pocket, another very large coin silver railway pocket and a Benrus wrist watch.

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Though as a rule the underlying cause amounts to nothing of consequence, I readily proclaim my eruptions of delight with just about anything I have or do. It is not mere complaisance. Mine is a grateful disposition. Some might assert that given my modest achievements and acquisitions I am too easily pleased. To them I say, Pshaw! I prefer to style my agreeableness as an insight not a misapprehension. While I won’t deny there is in this mad world rampant distress, my experience is not of that unfortunate character and I see no reason to disguise it or to pretend otherwise. As much as I’d prefer to improve the circumstances of those who suffer, I am equally disposed to relish my own comparatively jocund predicament.

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As popular as it is to record the welcome and accepted advantages of a Friday afternoon and an upcoming weekend, it is equally frequent to remark upon the blight that is Monday morning. Today was no exception to that routine nutrition.

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