Dear President Trump, This morning Laura and I took a not-rainy walk (finally!) with the dogs in the part of town we call “Swale-land.” It’s on the way to the grocery store and it feels kind of exotic because every other street is lined with richly planted swales instead of the usual plain grass nature … Continue reading Associative learning and Joe Biden
Vulnerability
Time to whistle in the dark
Dear President Trump, Can you whistle? Probably not, but surely you can hum. I bet people within earshot of you are hearing an off-key hummed version of “Oh Happy Day” or something like that now that you’ve locked down the impeachment trial and avoided the disaster of involving witnesses and document discovery. You are getting … Continue reading Time to whistle in the dark
Crying babies, anger, and hate
Dear President Trump, I don’t know how involved you were when your kids were tiny, but I’m guessing you probably don’t know that babies rarely cry for no reason. It’s often not readily apparent what the reasons are but they generally include the following: their diapers are wet or their tummies hurt or they are … Continue reading Crying babies, anger, and hate
Hitting the limits of magnanimity
Dear President Trump, As you know by now, I’ve worked very, very hard not to let hate settle into my psyche. I don’t want it to take hold or to be a motivating force. It’s poison, and ingesting and holding poison in one’s system is a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. I tried … Continue reading Hitting the limits of magnanimity
“Adulting” is hard
Dear President Trump, This morning on my walk I’d turned towards home and was going past a favorite tree (the old low-slung ornamental cherry whose major roots are exposed and look like they are doing the splits) on the corner of 21st Ave and 77th St when I heard a cat-bell sounding, as though the … Continue reading “Adulting” is hard
Another wise woman
Dear President Trump, If you’ve not gotten this before, I’ll tell you plainly that Laura is a terrific finder. I see things that happen to pop up right in front of me and I regularly sleuth out what I need for paper and letter writing, but she actively searches out new stuff all the time … Continue reading Another wise woman
“Lordy, Lordy, Lordy”
Dear President Trump, He’s been gone for 26 years now, but I can almost hear Laura’s dad saying “Lordy, Lordy, Lordy” like he’s right here sitting in the living room with us. He’d always say it when he was incredulous about something someone had done; he’d shake his head slowly back and forth as he … Continue reading “Lordy, Lordy, Lordy”
What if the goal is for all hell to break loose in the Middle East?
Dear President Trump, On the way home from the frame shop this afternoon I got behind a car with an Indiana license plate. It had an American flag inspired background and at the bottom the words “In God We Trust.” When I got home I looked it up to see if it was a specialty … Continue reading What if the goal is for all hell to break loose in the Middle East?
Things are even scarier just below the surface
Dear President Trump, I think you know by now that my usual practice is to start, if not fully draft, my letters to you early in the morning and then clean them up and send them to you in the evening. This works well from a time management standpoint, but on days like yesterday it … Continue reading Things are even scarier just below the surface
Eggs ~ then and now
Dear President Trump, On home-based days I like to make hot lunches, which usually involves heating up leftovers or maybe grilled cheese if there’s any decent gluten free bread in the freezer. Yesterday lunch consisted of a fried egg on top of leftover toasted cornbread covered with Hatch red chile (that it comes from Hatch … Continue reading Eggs ~ then and now
Daily Trump Letters 