Posts Tagged ‘Obama’

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Letter From New York 09 25 15 Chasing a perfect sunset…

September 25, 2015

Xi Jinping. Syria. Refugee crises. Pope Francis. Stampede at the Haj. Jeremy Corbin. Greece. John Boehner. And so on…

The world continues to rattle along, mostly badly if you read the headlines. I haven’t for a couple of days, while whiling away my time here in Provincetown. At this moment, I am sitting in the kitchen of my friends Dawn and Gail’s incredible home, sipping coffee and thinking how lucky I am to be alive and in this place today.

It’s the weekend of the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in Provincetown. Dawn and I went to “The Parade” yesterday, a little known Williams’ play, featuring his emotional hallmarks. Everyone in the play is slightly or greatly tortured. Set on sand dunes, it was performed on a platform on real sand dunes, as the tide was slowly rising. I was facing west, the sun slowly descending in the pallid blue afternoon sky.

It was a near perfect experience. Sitting with a friend, watching performers, outside, with a light wind blowing off the sea.

Later we chased the most beautiful sunset and I stood at water’s edge to take a photo.

Sunset

Before setting off to retrieve our tickets and to attend the play, we watched Pope Francis speak to Congress. Speaking in halting English, sometimes a little hard to understand, Francis called out to all our better angels. At one moment, I felt tears form in my eyes. As they seem to be doing with John Boehner, Speaker of the House.

Just now, I received a flash alert from AP on my phone that he is stepping down at the end of October and not just as Speaker but also from the House itself.

While I slept the night before last over 700 people died in a stampede at the Haj, the holy journey every Muslim is extolled to take once in their lives. Nearly a thousand were injured. If I were Muslim, I am not sure I could be extolled to make the Haj. I don’t like big crowds. I don’t mean to be flip; this is a tragedy and I have said a prayer for those dead and injured.

Tsipras of Greece is pledging to enact the necessary reforms for Greece’s bailout quickly. He needs to move quickly on several fronts. Greece is the center of the refugee/migrant crisis as well as having huge financial issues.

As Pope Francis left Washington for New York, President Xi Jinping of China arrived. Obama is having a busy week with international leaders. It’s being said that China and America are going to strive for cooperation, especially over cyber affairs, after a period of tension over that and several other things.

Russia is settling into being a player in Syria and seems to be working on beefing up its communications with Iran on how to deal with that country.

Jeremy Corbin is the new head of Britain’s Labour Party. He is a staunch Republican and has an upcoming audience with the Queen. He has not decided whether he will kneel, as is traditional.

At his very moment, I am listening to Francis speak at the United Nations, speaking on the environment. He has given so much hope to so many and I am hoping that his words echo with life long after he is gone.

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Posted in European Refugee Crisis, Greek Debt Crisis, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary, Syria | Leave a Comment »

Letter From New York 09 22 15 The Pope, Putin, Syria, Refugees and so much more…

September 22, 2015

As I am sitting in the Acela Club at Penn Station, I am watching CNN, which is covering the arrival of the Pope. He landed at Joint Base Andrews and at this moment is arriving at the Diplomatic Mission of the Vatican in Washington, DC, on Massachusetts Avenue.

When Francis touched down, President and Michelle Obama and Vice President Biden were present to greet him, an unprecedented honor. He is waving to the crowd as he slips into the residence for a night of rest.

Tonight is Yom Kippur, the holiest of nights to Jews, and Pope Francis does not want to detract from that. Tens of thousands have been mobilized to keep him safe. The Secret Service sent a man to Rome to watch how Francis interacts with crowds so they might anticipate what they needed to do.

While waiting for Francis to address a Joint Session of Congress [a first], we are, once again, facing a shutdown of the government. The Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood and the Democrats are opposed to that. Somehow I fail to see why the Republicans are SO against Planned Parenthood.

My Republican respect keeps descending.

While all eyes are watching Francis and his movements, EU leaders have been meeting, working to decide how to handle the thousands of refugees and migrants. I found the information a little confused and oriented to dealing with the future rather than the present.

While the EU is determining what to do with the refugees there, Turkey and the US are working to figure out what Putin is up to in Syria. He intends to start bombing ASAP. They’re not sure who it is he will be bombing. Will it be IS as he says OR will it be the anti-Assad Syrian rebels who are also fighting IS? Turkey and the US fear it will be the latter as Putin and Assad have been playing footsie for decades.

I’m now on the train, heading north, on my right the Hudson River glides by with the setting sun glinting off its surface. It’s been mostly a grey day in New York but now the sun is bursting out from behind the clouds as it descends in the west.

All the way out west, in Burbank, CA, a 24 year-old man was taken into custody after he punched a 78 year-old in the face over Nutella Waffle Samples at a Costco. It seems like something that should be in “The Onion” and not real news. But it is real. The young man could face up to 11 years in prison.

There is a soft, golden glow in the west as we move north. The landscape is inescapably beautiful. I am closing down now for the night, wanting to enjoy the beauty around me before the sunset and we are gathered in the dark.

I am coming to the end of reading Steven Saylor’s Roman novels – at least all the ones he’s written so far. Another one is coming out in October. But they remind me that world has always been full of travail and that gives me hope that we will survive this time and find our own next future.

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Letter From New York 09 20 15 Getting ready to go on the road…

September 20, 2015

Today begins three weeks of travel for me. I am heading down to the city this noon to attend a party for my friends, Kris and Eric, who now live in California. They are stopping by New York on their way to Martha’s Vineyard for a week.

Monday and Tuesday I am in the city, Wednesday I leave for Provincetown to visit friends, back to the city, down to Baltimore for Lionel’s birthday, off to Indianapolis for a conference and then on to Minneapolis to visit family and friends, circling back to the city before heading home.

I am squeezing in all of this, fulfilling promises to visit, before winter hits. I do my best not to go to Minneapolis when it’s freezing.

It’s a gentle morning here, temperature in the sixties with no rain forecast either in the Hudson Valley or down in the city. It has warmed enough that I am now on the deck with my coffee and my increasingly cranky laptop. It is now three years old and beginning to feel its age. Oh well, aren’t we all?

There is a touch of fall in the morning’s air, cool with no humidity, a desire to go put on a sweater. Yesterday young Nick and I discussed the need to fill the racks near the house with seasoned firewood from the piles out by the shed. I am settling in to a comfortable fall.

Not so in Europe where refugees and migrants find themselves trapped at borders, struggling to get around them. The nights are already cool and I doubt any of them are prepared for a chill walk across Europe. The seas will be getting rougher and therefore more dangerous.

Pope Francis has arrived in Cuba and is asking for more freedom for the church. If anyone can convince the Castros to loosen their grip, it’s this man. Tuesday he arrives in New York, one of the reasons I am choosing to be gone. It will be a little bit of chaos; no it will likely be a lot of chaos. Pundits think it will be worse than when the President is in town. But the town is revving up for him.

On the west coast, Seattle is getting ready for a two day visit starting also on Tuesday by Xi Jinping, President of China, in which he will immerse himself in all things tech before heading on to visit Obama in Washington on Thursday.

Ben Carson has declared a Muslim should not be President and The Donald has had to respond, which he has done in typical The Donald style, to not having corrected a man in an audience who said the country had a problem: Muslims and the President was not an American and was a Muslim.

Staggeringly, near thirty percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim. It causes me to roll my eyes and despair of the electorate.

The Greek electorate is deciding today whether to return to office Alexis Tsipras, who was elected to defy the country’s European creditors and ended capitulating to them. The Greeks are weary; this is their fifth national election in six years. Ridiculous, says one man. It will be a very tight election.

The Conservatives are running neck and neck with Tsipras and his Syriza Party. We will know by the morning, at least, who wins.

Tonight are the Emmy Awards. Since I no longer have cable, I’ll not be able to watch them. I don’t have over-the-air service either. I’m interested in seeing if Jon Hamm will FINALLY get an Award for his iconic performance as Don Draper in “Mad Men.” A couple of others interest me too, but not terribly.

Increasingly, I feel removed from media except as a distant observer. I’ve had my fun.

Now I seem to be looking for other fun, closer to home, some still media related but on the very local level. It brings a smile to my lips.

Now I must go and get ready to go to that party…

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Posted in European Refugee Crisis, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Politics, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis | 2 Comments »

Letter From the Train 09 10 15 On the train south, with an eerie landscape slipping by…

September 10, 2015

It is a grey and almost cool day as I ride the train south to the city; tomorrow I am making a day trip with a client to Washington, DC. The Hudson River is almost bronze in color, with small waves rocking the boats at anchor. It is a day that feels depressing; I have worked hard to be cheery and not cranky.

Mostly I have succeeded.

Bernie Sanders is “stunned” by the fact he is pulling close to Hillary Clinton in polls in key states like Iowa. Hollywood Democrats are re-thinking their support for her; wondering if Joe Biden will cease biding his time and jump into the race. One headline today from the Washington Post suggested it might be time for Hillary to go into panic mode.

On the Republican side, Trump and Ben Carson, both outsiders, are now doing a bit of infighting, while dominating the field. Carson questioned The Donald’s faith and Trump, of course, shot back. He also took a slam at Carly Fiorina, saying something that sounded like he thought she was ugly. He responded, nah, not her face, just her persona.

It certainly is keeping things amusing if not just a little frightening.

Scientists stunned the world with the announcement of a new human ancestor, Homo Naledi, found in a dark cave in South Africa by a team that was supported, in part, by the National Geographic Society.

That estimable group has now sold the majority interest in all its media properties to 21st Century Fox, including the venerable magazine, raising nearly three quarters of a billion dollars for the society. For the first time in its history, National Geographic Magazine will be a for profit operation.

I was stunned when I heard the news. Somehow it feels wrong.

Today there was a procedural vote to disapprove the Iranian Nuclear Deal. It was blocked by a vote of 58 to 42. Obama will not have to use his veto. It was a significant win for Democrats. We will all see how it plays out over the next decade.

A mist is now hovering over the river, obscuring the west bank of the Hudson. It is barely visible and slight streaks of rain are splashed against the window next to me. It is oddly comforting to be here, sitting on the train and watching the eerie landscape slide by.

We just slipped by Bannerman’s Castle, a structure built in the 19th century as a munitions depot that has fallen into ruins. It looks like a haunted castle, sitting on a small island that hugs close to the east bank of the Hudson. Dark and threatening clouds hover over the river.

IS is offering a Norwegian citizen and a Chinese citizen “for sale” in their online magazine. The Chinese government has not responded and the Norwegians have said they won’t pay ransom. A wealthy individual could rescue them, I suppose. The amount requested is, according the Norwegians, substantial.

To assist President Assad of Syria cling to power, the Russians have sent military advisers and troops to that country, bolstering Assad and his forces at a time when they seem to be losing on all fronts. Syria has been close to Moscow since 1955 and Putin is determined not to let it slip from his side. It complicates the equation for everyone.

In a story that brought me a smile, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, is now the longest reigning British monarch, having now reigned longer than her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria. She has now been Queen since 1952 and Britain today is much different from Britain then, wildly more diverse with great gaps in wealth between the cities and the countryside. Through it all, the slow devolution of a great Empire, Elizabeth has been there, a calming presence.

How it will go with Charles on the throne is yet to be seen. But in the meantime, good on you, Ma’am…

The rain has increased. It looks like a scene from a thriller out my window. Soon I will be arriving in New York.

Have a good evening.

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Letter From Martha’s Vineyard 08 09 15 Musings from “the land of off…”

August 9, 2015

It’s nearly 6:30 here on Martha’s Vineyard; the entire day has been grey and blustery, no chance for a good sail today. When I woke up at 7:15, seeing how grey and drear it was, I slipped back into bed and slept another ninety minutes. Jeffrey and I went to Behind The Bookstore and had breakfast, watching what seemed an endless flood of vacationers fill the place. It was a little like watching a reality television program.

The afternoon before had been spent in a long four-hour sail out beyond the harbor. Jeffrey, Tim and “Bash” [short for Sebastian] Reeve, who is the nephew of the late actor, Christopher Reeve, crewed. Bash’s girlfriend, Jane, and I were passengers.

He has all of his uncle’s good looks, is studying to be a doctor in Boston and teaches sailing during the summers. His family has a farm on the Vineyard. His aunt, Sarah Sterling, lives in Hudson, is a local politician and a slight acquaintance of mine. He described seeing the President’s helicopters fly low over the farm while on their way to depositing him on the island for his vacation.

For a while I closed my eyes and rested, thinking. When I opened them, the world appeared to me as if I was seeing it through a camera lens with a filter over it. The water looked black and the waves crested with silver; everyone on the boat seemed sepia toned. It was magical.

A rubber dingy was floating about, having come untethered from another boat. We swung round and hooked it, to drag it back to shore. Intercepted by the Shore Patrol, we were asked to release it. Jeffrey requested rum and some women for it but the Shore Patrol lacked a sense of humor. They didn’t even say thank you. It added some excitement to the afternoon.

We attended a party last night on Chappaquiddick at a house that had the most magnificent view of the sunset. Several young musicians performed and we slipped away as they were playing so that Jeff and Joyce could make a final stop at the bookstore and café.

Last night, as I have been lately, I feel asleep reading a book, with the light still on. While I was sleeping, a skunk sprayed Lettie the dog, and Joyce cleaned him up. Apparently you use a solution of baking soda, peroxide and dishwashing soap. It worked. I didn’t smell anything on Lettie when she came and snuggled up to me when I came down in the morning.

Jeffrey calls the Vineyard “the land of off.” It feels like that. I have let two days slip by without focusing much on the news of the world.

There was a poetry reading at the cafe at four; I did some shopping and Jeffrey and I returned to the house.

Since coming up to my room to write my missive, I have been pouring over the headlines to catch up on The Donald and other goings on in the world.

Donald Trump offended many by his comments about Megyn Kelly, the Fox newscaster who asked him hard questions during the debate. He tweeted later he could see the blood coming out of her eyes, ears, everywhere. Some took it to mean that he was accusing her of attacking him because she was menstruating. Nonsense, said The Donald. Unabashed as ever, he refused to apologize and said he’d be great for women.

He was excluded from a Republican gathering after that but he bashed them too, for doing that. He’s taking credit for the whopping ratings of the debate. He is, as he says, “a ratings magnet.”

Trump has even offered the job of Treasury Secretary to hedge fund billionaire Carl Icahn.

The Republican race has become all about Donald Trump, like it or not.

Frank Gifford passed away today, a Houston man is in custody, accused of killing six children and two adults, Singapore is celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence, on Friday jobs grew by 215,000 which depressed the market as Wall Street can see a rate increase clearly on the horizon.

Israel continues it crackdown on Israeli terrorists with new arrests.

And today is the seventieth anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. A memorial was held there; the Mayor and hibakusha [survivors of the bomb] used it as an opportunity to protest Prime Minister Abe’s efforts to grow the Japanese military.

The world has been ticking on while I have been sailing and resting in “the land of off.” I wish it could be as peaceful as the scene outside my window, boats joyfully dancing at anchor, the sun appearing for the first time today to cast a golden glow across the harbor.

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Letter From New York 08 05 15 Thoughts from the train heading north…

August 5, 2015

The last letter I wrote was from a train headed south. This one in being started while riding north, headed back home for a day before a quick trip to the Vineyard. I’ll arrive on Friday and leave on Tuesday with a day back in Claverack and then to the city for a couple of days.

The Hudson River is steel grey and the sun is shielded behind clouds, giving a grey hue to the whole world. I am happily munching popcorn and sipping a Diet Pepsi while the river glides by to my right. It feels good to be headed home and I’m looking forward to my time on the Vineyard.

I’m having a good afternoon. I’ve been grumpy the last two days and this morning became dissatisfied with being grumpy and determined not to be. So far, so good.

The field has been declared for the Fox debate among the top ten Republican candidates. Leading the pack: The Donald. Almost everyone I know of is panting to watch the debate, eager to see how he performs because it will be a performance.

My family was Catholic. My two siblings and I attended Catholic school through high school. My brother’s entire education was in Catholic institutions as well as my sister, who, after high school, entered the convent. I rebelled and went to the University of Minnesota. My sister left the convent, got married, got divorced, got remarried. My brother is also divorced and remarried.

Today, Pope Francis encouraged Bishops to be gentle with divorced Catholics, to not treat them like pariahs. Still no communion or confession but a little reconciliation can go a fair way. Not deviating from church teaching, Pope Francis still managed to sound conciliatory and healing.

The Malaysian Prime Minister announced today that the piece of a 777 found on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean is from MH 370, the first piece of evidence regarding the fate of the flight that has been found. At lunch, a friend said to me: at least we now know aliens didn’t abduct them.

Obama is working hard to sell the Iran deal, lobbying via speeches at various places. He has written off the Republicans and is hoping to convince wavering Democrats to stay the course with him.

USA Today had a good editorial about the deal today. It argues there is no real alternative; if it fails because of the U.S., the coalition that has brought Iran to the table will fall apart. Here is the link:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/05/iran-nuclear-deal-obama-congress-editorials-debates/31067637/

Tomorrow morning at 8:15, a temple bell will toll and tens of thousands of people will be silent. The representatives of a hundred countries will be present. It is 70 years ago since the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. The U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, will be there.

To some degree, we all have lived in terror since.

The survivors are called the hibakusha. Every year the names of those who have died since the last memorial service are added to the peace park’s cenotaph.  In total, there are 292,325 names inscribed.

The train arrived in Hudson and Jerry, my favorite cab driver, brought me back to the cottage. When I first moved here, he taught me how to pronounce the name of my town, Claverack, as if I were a native and not a weekender.

I am now sitting on the deck with the creek glittering in the setting sun. A chipmunk is settled on the deck near me, completely unfazed by my presence. The birds are chirping, the sky is blue with a light splattering of clouds.

The peace of the moment is overwhelming.

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Letter From New York 08 03 15 Thoughts trundling south on the train…

August 3, 2015

The west bank of the Hudson River is a verdant green as the train slowly rumbles south toward New York. It is a bright day, warmer than it has been but still very sweet. I am coming down to New York for a few meetings and a lunch and then am heading home to get ready to go to my friend’s Jeffrey and Joyce’s home on Martha’s Vineyard on Friday.

I’ll linger with them for four or five days and then head back to the Cottage and then down to New York for a meeting on the 13th. Jeffrey calls Martha’s Vineyard “the land of off” and it seems that way though I am not sure how “off” their summers have been since the bought the Edgartown bookstore. It will be interesting to see what changes they have made since I was last there two years ago.

They had ambitious plans and I am sure they have been realized.

The water in the Hudson is browner than usual; the river stirred by the recent rains. It quietly laps the shore. For some reason, it is causing me to think of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis where we’d go as children to swim and sail.

Having spent a few days surrounded by a delicious amount of natural beauty, it seems reasonable that President Obama is issuing today a set of environmental regulations that is intended to reduce, sharply, the amount of greenhouse emissions from power plants. They promise to remake the industry.

There is a controversy happening in Columbia County regarding new power line towers. Most people I know think we don’t need them and intend to fight to stop them from blighting the natural beauty of Columbia County. They are strongly supported by Democratic Governor Cuomo. It is going to be an interesting fight.

And Obama’s regulations will set off a firestorm of lawsuits. Again, it will be interesting to watch. At the end, I suspect there will be change and the lawsuits will determine the extent.

At one point in my life I spent several months in Canada and was impressed with Canadian friendliness. Some Canadian researchers built a “hitchBOT,” a robot that hitchhiked its way across Canada and most of Germany and the Netherlands. He came south two weeks ago to attempt to cross the United States. He was found destroyed beyond repair around Philadelphia, “City of Brotherly Love.” Shame on whoever did this. He was only the size of a six year old and reportedly quite charming.

IS, which is known for its clever and relentless use of the Internet to tell its stories, is now relentlessly cracking down on those inside its territory who are using the Internet. Anyone connecting must now do it through an open network that is being watched. IS is showing signs of fear.

The French are leading the investigation of the wing fragment found on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. Islanders are searching for more debris to see if it might be from the long missing Malaysian Airlines MH370.

The Chinese are having trouble with their escalators. Not so long ago a woman died saving her child in an escalator accident. Today, a man lost his foot and his leg had to be amputated. Both incidents, I believe, happened in Shanghai. Be careful.

Secretary of State John Kerry is making a round of visits to Arabic neighbors, drumming up support for the Iran deal. He seems to be having some success though I am sure it comes at a price, weapons and new pledges to counter Iran.

Donald Trump is still leading in the polls. The Republican mainstream is running in circles, unsure how to counter The Donald. The Koch brothers, rich as could be, with eighty some billion dollars between them, are simply freezing him out. David Koch and Trump are reputedly friendly but the organizations they fund have not given him any opportunities to speak. They own data firm i360, the best data and voter analytics company on the right, and it won’t do business with the Trump Organization.

The big winner at the Box Office was Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation” which not only claimed the top spot in dollars but also garnered very good reviews.

Without doubt, this is the longest it has ever taken me to get to the city on Amtrak. I have been traveling now for three and a half hours. Traffic ahead. The compensation? The Hudson River is beautiful. I’ve had time to read and write and contemplate.

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Letter From New York 07 25 15 Thoughts on a Saturday afternoon…

July 25, 2015

It has been a resolutely beautiful day in Columbia County. I awoke late this morning, having been up late, cleaning up after a dinner party. Thursday night some friends were going to come for dinner and cancelled. I had food that would have rotted and so I called other friends and invited them for dinner Friday evening.

Serving a chilled avocado soup, followed by a salad, then a grilled chicken breast with sautéed heirloom carrots and potatoes, along with some dreadful sugar snap peas I managed to destroy, it was a dinner much enjoyed [except for the sugar snap peas]. Dessert was ice cream with chocolate sauce; it felt very summery and right.

I have always enjoyed having people for dinner and last night was a testament to that. It was mostly good food with great company, good wine and sparkling conversation. I went to sleep with a bit of a glow.

Awaking this morning, the sun was already fairly high in the sky but it was neither hot nor humid today. At this moment, I am sitting on my deck, looking over the creek, and thinking of how wonderful it is that I am in this spot.

The sun is now hidden behind clouds but it does not prevent the birds from singing or the frogs from leaping. This morning I found one on the side of the house; they are everywhere right now and I’m grateful.

Far away, I can hear traffic on 23, moving to and from the Massachusetts border. The green of the trees is luscious. All seems right in the world.

All, of course, is not right in the world. While it seems far away, it isn’t really. Events keep happening that keep shaping our world. Some of them are for the good and some for the bad. It is interesting to figure out which is which.

Obama was in Kenya today, homeland of his father, and spoke out for gay rights, which caused a very tense moment between him and the President of Kenya, Kenyatta. Kenyatta thought it was a non-issue and Obama did not. There has been a crackdown on gays in Kenya and it’s apparently not very pretty. Tomorrow Obama will meet with some of gay leaders in Kenya. Kenyatta is not happy.

But good for Obama! Yes, good for him.

Donald Trump’s campaign keeps trucking along. Right now he is mired in a bit of controversy as he has formed a group called “Veterans for Trump,” though some of the veterans named claim they have so idea how they got on the list. He is being accused of hiring actors to cheer for him. Gosh, it sounds a lot like ancient Roman politics.

He made a visit to Laredo, Texas and I was surprised in reading the reports from there how many agreed with him, including some of Hispanic origin. He is tapping into a vein of American discomfort and is doing well by it.

Duke, the Great Dane, whose family lives next door, just wandered onto my property. Two years ago he had been given two months to live by his vet. But he’s still here, seemingly having a good time. We’ve begun to think of him as indestructible. He just keeps going on…

The sun is setting, the green is fulsome; the creek glitters with the fading light. I find myself astonished at my luck in having this place to sit and write. A small plane flies overhead, flying south from Columbia County Airport. These are country sounds and moments.

I’ll be having more of them, suspecting that some time in the not too distant future I will be here full time. Sitting on the deck on day this week, I realized that I didn’t care that much about the life I’ve had though am interested in finding out what life I will have.

I’ve been here long enough to note the changes. Rosemary Schneider has passed away and her cottage torn down and rebuilt from the slab up. Harry Fonda has passed away and his wife is now in assisted care facility up near Albany and her daughter; new people live in their house. Lionel and Pierre bought their house across the street from long time residents I didn’t know well.

Time keeps changing things. I am treasuring this moment when time seems eternal. The creek reflects the light. The small plane flies south. I hear someone cutting their grass. It is a perfect evening on a summer night in Columbia County.

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Letter From New York 07 23 15 A perfect day in Columbia County…

July 24, 2015

In the west, the sun is slowly setting, a great golden orb pulsing through the trees and almost hurting my eyes as I sit at my desk typing. It has been a magical summer day in Columbia County. Rising early in a cool morning, I sat on my deck reading and sipping coffee, reminded of summer mornings when I was a child in Minnesota. Then the sun was glittering off the creek. Snapping a shot of it, I sent it to Nick Stuart, my friend who is currently touring Southern California with his daughter Francesca. He returned with a shot of a greyish morning in LA, with downtown Los Angeles visible in the background of the shot.

It is Thursday night and another week has slipped away. Last Friday night I was headed north, plumped with the excitement of having a full week at the cottage. Now that time has slipped away and it has been very sweet. Friends have visited, I have had friends for dinner, books have been read, shopping has been done and now that time is coming to an end. Next week I will be back in the city.

World events swirl around me while I am here and I make note of them but feel far from them. We have done a deal with Iran, something that seemed impossible. Republicans are going to attempt to derail it. Interestingly, the Ayatollah Khamenei seems to have decided he is okay with it. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Ash Carter, the Secretary of Defense, has surprised Baghdad with a visit to discuss the preparations to retake Ramadi from IS. How strange it is that I have become so familiar with such unfamiliar names of places like Ramadi. Years of war have caused them now to be tattooed on my brain.

Obama is about to make a visit to Kenya to address the Global Entrepreneurship Summit; Kenya is agog with excitement. Obama’s father was Kenyan of the Luo in the west of Kenya. “Mama Sarah,” his grandmother, will go to Nairobi to see him but he will not go to the ancestral lands of his father. Kenya is deeply invested in the success of Barak Obama. Schools are named after him; children are named after him. He is the “native” son who has become the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.

Ah, the sun has slipped down and the sky is now a soft pearl grey. Twilight has arrived while I review the events of the day.

NASA has announced the finding of a near Earth twin, Keplar 452b. Well, may be an older cousin like planet but one that holds the possibility for all the factors NASA believe are necessary for life. Heavier gravity, older than earth, but in the “Goldilocks” zone, it may well be a place where life has evolved. Hopefully, radio telescopes are looking at it to see if there are messages that might be coming from it. Unfortunately, it is 1400 light years from here. We will need warp drive to get there.

Donald Trump is in Laredo, Texas. I would so like to chat with my friend Alicia who is from there. Would love to get her take on his visit. He is causing constant conniptions in Republican circles, even more so now that he is thinking of running as a 3rd party candidate. They see catastrophe in front of them. The Donald is leading in the polls! And if he doesn’t get the nomination, he might not go away! Ouch!

How rich is he? Hard to tell from the forms filed but Forbes is guessing $4 billion.

The Euro is up on the progression of Greece obtaining new loans from the EU. Reading an article just now it seemed like it’s Peter borrowing from Paul to pay…I have to say it seems more and more like a house of cards that will only work if there is a reduction in Greece’s debt, which is unsustainable. The country can’t survive with the amount of debt it has.

The sun is almost gone. Evening is upon us. The light has turned on for the fountain in the courtyard. Soon it will be summer dark.

What a wonderful summer day it has been. I am going to curl up with a new book or a good movie and let the day slip away. Tomorrow I have lunch with a new friend and then dinner at home with my friends Susan and Jim; we know each other from the train.

Perfect. May your day be perfect too!

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Letter From New York 07 16 15 Observations as I have wandered the town…

July 16, 2015

It has been a lovely day in New York City. The day dawned warm, sunny and not humid. As I walked up 93rd Street to the subway, I cherished every moment, looking up at the trees, moving slightly in the wind. People were out walking their dogs, chatting with them as they did morning duty. There is a bulldog I see occasionally; he has a face only a father could love. He walks sprightly with him on many a morning as I am making my way to Broadway and the subway.

As I took the 1 train to 28th, my car had scattered bunches of tourists. There was a young French couple, a small group of Germans; some folks with mid-western twangs. It is the fabric of the city this time of year. Later in the day there was a group of older tourists from Italy on Fifth Avenue, getting their bearings before strolling down the block.

Today, having only had a light dinner, I was hungry and stopped at the little Greek diner on the corner of 28th and 7th, appropriately called The Greek Corner. The menu has Santorini splashed across its cover. Once I asked the waitress if the owner came from Santorini. She shrugged and said: no, he’s from Sparta. I suspect he thought Santorini more beautiful than Sparta.

She is from Spain and was not terribly friendly at first but now she smiles a little when I come in. She now expects me not to need a menu though, like today, I sometimes ask for one. She always tries to serve me coffee even though I have never had a cup there.

Places like The Greek Corner are disappearing from New York City. There are articles in The Times chronicling their vanishing in all the boroughs.

As I was eating my food, another aspect of New York shuffled through the door, a homeless man, looking for water, smelling of dirt and urine. He was being respectful and the Spanish girl filled a cup for him with water and he shuffled away. It breaks my heart to see men and women like this, scattered all over the city.

As I walked down 7th Avenue to 30th, there is a woman who is there everyday, selling fruit. Yesterday, I wanted to ask her about her story, how she came to be selling fruit on 7th Avenue in New York, far from her homeland.

Since my last letter, a deal has been announced with Iran on its nuclear program. I am not sure how I feel about it, good or bad it is a path that is being played out. The Republicans and some Democrats have vowed to scuttle it and Obama says he will veto any legislation that will stop it. Rouhani of Iran is attempting to sell it through to his people and the all-powerful Ayatollah Khamenei. Neither of the men have an easy job.

The Iran drama has just reached a new stage and for some reason elicits a sense of exhaustion from me for reasons I can’t quite name. Despite the agreement, there is the reality of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the US all vying for position in the Middle East.

The Great Game continues, I guess.

TLC has cancelled, officially, the suspended “19 Kids and Counting” after the oldest son admitted abusing five underage girls, including two of his sisters. There was a celebration on Twitter that was quite amazing, I’m told.

In Chattanooga, TN, a shooter was killed after he had killed four others. The man identified as the shooter has an Arabic sounding name and one official, at least, has said it probably is a case of domestic terrorism. It happened at a military facility. The young man was born in 1990, which would make him twenty-five. He was so young to choose a path of violence. What rage burned in him? In any of these young men and women who seem to find killing so easy?

To no one’s great surprise, Dylann Roof, accused in the Charleston killing of nine churchgoers, had a troubled childhood. He grew more silent and withdrawn as time went on, using drugs and having non-violent run-ins with the law.

Tomorrow, North American Muslims will be celebrating Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting observed by Muslims. There will be gifts given and much family time enjoyed.

The potential for hate crimes makes it hard for some to enjoy. Recently, a man in New York fractured the jaw of a 19-year-old Muslim woman, while spewing anti-Muslim remarks.

As I write this, the world is waiting for the verdict in the case of James Holmes, who killed twelve and injured seventy in a shooting in a theater showing “Batman” in Aurora, Colorado. Before I post this, we should know.

Tomorrow is the year anniversary of the downing of MH17, brought to earth over Ukraine. There are at least two investigations going on. One has indicated it believes the most likely scenario is that Ukrainian separatists brought down the plane. There is talk of a UN Tribunal. Mr. Putin thinks it “premature.”

Lest we forget, Emmy nominations were announced today. Streaming services rise and broadcast slips in numbers of nominations.

The phone has buzzed three times. The verdict is in for James Holmes; he is guilty of murder and faces the death penalty.

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