Couple Reading Newspaper In Print

People At A Coffee ShopThere was something a little ‘off’ about the pair planted in the window of the coffee shop that Sunday morning.There they were reading a newspaper, a newspaper in print mind you.

There are few souls here in the coffee shop who still cling to the news-in-print habit. For some, savoring obituaries in newsprint can be hard to give up.

When you walk the few blocks to get here, you’ll see only a single Wall Street Journal pitched on the lawn.

It’s doubtful Kristen and David will ever circle classified ads and copy phone numbers to find an apartment, or stockpile old papers to line the bottom of drawers or re-pot house plants.

They know the news in print is a day out of date – they consult their phones frequently to stay informed. But sharing a printed paper on Sunday mornings has become a personal ritual dear to them.

David stops at the newsstand (there’s still one on the next corner) to pick up the morning edition. It’s half the size it was when he was a kid. They divvy up the paper and share comments from respective sections.

It’s not just their news consumption that was ironic about them. The way they were dressed that particular Sunday morning was out-of-sync with their demographics. (And, no, they weren’t on the way to church services.)

David wore a conservative sports jacket with a laundered, button-down shirt and jeans; much like his father might have worn while dating his mother.

Kristen wore an elegant, black sweater with a flowing, pleated ochre skirt over knee-height leather boots. Jackie Bouvier comes to mind.

They shop at thrift stores, they said, proving once again that “any old thing” looks fashionable on beautiful, young people. For a brief moment of time, through osmosis, we all felt a little more glamorous than usual.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Construction workers and cyclists group

People At A Coffee Shop

Working up a sweat on opposite sides of the street.

Temperatures weren’t a problem when the workers reported to the construction site outside the windows of our coffee shop. But the air took on moisture and reached hazardous heat levels when the cyclists arrived hours later.

Saturday morning meant something different to the two groups.

For the union crew it meant overtime pay, which would climb even higher if they worked through the solstice’s extra daylight hours. For the cyclists, mostly professionals, Saturday morning offered a few hours when they weren’t expected to be logged to the system.


Their reasons for being out in the heat were different as well. The workers were there strictly for a paycheck. The cyclists were in pursuit of fitness, athletic engagement and the company of friends.

The riders came together through a “clubhouse” sponsored by a chain of cycling-accessories stores, where it’s easy to pay $300 for cleated cycling shoes and where things are covered with logos. Their bikes, one cyclist explained, sell from anywhere between $2000 to $10,000.

The construction workers by contrast could get by investing as little as $200 on summer work clothes (steel-toed shoes included).

It’s not unusual for some cycling groups to break out into a sprint at predetermined points during a thirty mile (2-3 hour) ride, pushing themselves to challenge their personal best. The workers, on the other hand, are trained to pace themselves during long work days to avoid accidents caused by fatigue and repetition.


What the groups on the respective sides of the street had in common that sweltering morning was the search for shade, a hit of caffeine and some kind of sugar fix. But as luck would have it, there weren’t a lot of first-choice pastries left on the trays by the time they all got there.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Fourth of July

The enduring promise of the American Dream is written all over this woman’s face.Being born mid-century and being born an American, she’s lived through a more prosperous and less violent period than any the world has experienced.

Her country hasn’t seen war within its borders during her lifetime, nukes weren’t deployed. She’s been spared decades-long famines and droughts. Much of the working class has earned living wages. Store shelves have been stocked with foods and conveniences unimaginable even decades earlier

She grew up learning patriotic slogans and accepting myths that marshaled a nation during WWII. Schoolbooks described a land of exceptional virtue and opportunity that welcomed huddled masses from around the world.

She’s seen eighteen presidential inaugurations and depending on how she consumes events of the day, and how capable she is of reexamining her own thinking, her understanding of America today may be different from the ideas she inherited.

The child sitting on her lap knows nothing of the past and even less of the future that awaits him. He’s not sure why his (grandmother?) is having him wave a flag; but the ice cream and fireworks later in the day, those he will understand.

Seventy years from now, he may take a child to an Independence Day parade. And what he explains to him or her will depend on the whims of history and on the wisdom of American voters and the continued peaceful transition of power.

Thanks to Roland Lieber, who captured this image in a small town on the western edge of the Great Lakes.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Marshal McDonald

The monastic mornings of one Marshal McDonald.

Marshal spends his hours at the coffee shop in the company of some of the most provocative and mischievous thinkers in and out of print. He seems to more than hold his own among them.

Here’s what he’s exploring via his latest reading list (take a deep breath):

Magister Ludi, Hermann Hesse
Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley
The Square and the Tower, Niall Ferguson
Hu Hua Ching, Lao Tzu
Metapatterns, Tyler Volk
Sensing Semiosis, Floyd Merrell
Against the Tide, Roger Scruton
Call of the Tribe, Mario Varga Llosa
Porius, John Cowper Powys,
Accent on Form, L.L. Whyte
Entering Stillness, Lousi Komjathy
Consciousness and Culture, Jean Gebser
Essays by Garry Wills.
A bio of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

There’s method to Marshal’s madness. He pans for ideas, reading a chapter or two of one author and relating each to next. He maintains notes religiously and uses the word “tinkering” to help explain what he’s doing.

There is invariably a pile of books at the ready in front of him.

He’s been exploring language and linguistics, semantics and semiosis, history of religions, quantum physics and nanoscale structures, cell biology, molecular physics, human evolution, Jungian psychology, Taoism, hierarchy theory, evolution of consciousness and the psychology of mathematics/symbolism.

“In former times I read so that I could win arguments and persuade people to my point of view,” he admits. But now he wades into dense, intellectual concepts as an end in itself.

It’s taken years of brief hellos to get to know Marshal. There isn’t the slightest trace of scholarly pretense about the man.

He speaks with a disarming back-home drawl, knows how to work with his hands, and has served two enlistments as a member of the United States Navy Band. He may be the only person at our coffee shop who’s achieved the elusive Double C on the trumpet.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Fathers Day 2024

What would you say is the most important thing that your father taught you?“…my father was pretty quiet and led by good example.” — Nancy Myers

“…charity.” — Jenny Hagar

“…when I was trying to make an important decision my father would ask me questions that would help me.”– Ted Buenger

“…I could never do justice in describing all the things my father taught me.” — Edna Grad

“…my father taught me was to look both ways before crossing the street – that saved my life in London years later.”

“…the most important thing my father taught me is to reject a bent board.” — Norm Ewald

“…my father taught me how to ‘tinker.’ To be vigilant and to tease things apart. When you know how to tinker you can solve any problem whether it’s writing a good essay, trying to find where there is a shared neutral wire or how to achieve the elusive Double C on the trumpet. — Marshal MacDonald

“…never give up.” — Scott Pemberton

“…I’ve never forgotten my dad’s four-word sex advice, which I’ve used to advantage in other contexts, too: “Don’t do anything stupid.” — Greg Taubeneck

“…resolve your problems, find a solution, the problem will be solved; and I’ll have your back.” — Will Butzlaff

“…coming from a family of immigrants, my father played football to escape from having to work in the coal mines. For him, everything was a struggle. As his daughter, I learned (or just inherited) a certain fierceness and determination.” — Anna Nardo

“…distilling it all down, the most memorable message I got from my father is, ‘Stand up for yourself. Don’t let anybody push you around.’” — Jim Thompson

“…while academic success eluded him, my father was blessed with a wickedly good sense of humor. He had a special talent to make everyone around him laugh with him. The best lesson that we learned from our fathers? The answer for me was immediately obvious – a sense of humor.”
 — Kevin Evanich

“…I learned about speaking with children like they’re people and being honest with them.”

“…my dad taught me people are almost always focused on their own lives. They are not thinking about YOU or anything you may have done to offend them. It’s best to reserve judgement when you feel slighted or neglected…they are in their own reality and are not trying to attack you!” – Paul Rathburn

“…he told my sisters and me to keep moving.  He was talking about physical health and well being, that the only way to mitigate some of the inevitable age-related declines was to use your muscles consistently and as best you could. – Sherri Smith

“…my father was a really kind and gentle guy. When we became adults (speaking for my 4 siblings as well), he was our best friend. He passed too soon at 68, and I think of him almost every day.” – Brian Brady

“…the most important thing my father taught me was the importance of sports. He literally taught me how to play baseball, basketball and golf.” – Ron Condon

“…my father’s teaching was ordinarily more example than dictation. A man told me about the time he and my father were members of the same Loop insurance agency.  A significant, very lucrative piece of business came my father’s way.  However, the opportunity had questionable aspects. ‘Your dad turned it down flat,’ the man said.” – Tom Figel

“……he was a Chicken Delight franchisee, and when the parent company went bankrupt, he lost everything. Many of his fellow franchisees declared bankruptcy. Not my Dad. Call him a sucker, but he sacrificed (and so did we) so he could pay back everything he owed. After that, my smart, cerebral Dad took a series of menial jobs to pay the bills. Because ‘no work is beneath you if it pays the bills.’ I was so proud of him.” – Chris Haxagar

“…I have fond memories of when my Dad taught me to sing and play “Tiny Bubbles” by Don Ho on the ukelele. I was no more than 6 or 7. Funny thing, my son never met him but he also enjoys playing the ukelele. I still have 
Dad’s uke!” – Janet Trierweiler

“…quit trying to have the last word!” – Mary Heneby Read more…

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail