Say What?

Nancy Pelosi made her move last week to begin a formal impeachment inquiry into the admitted criminal actions of Donald Trump*. I don't see that she had any choice, not if our Constitution (specifically, Article II, section 4 ) is still a thing to be upheld and revered. There was very little public support for Nixon's impeachment when news of Watergate began to appear in the press in the fall of 1972. It wasn't until the Senate Watergate hearings in the summer of '73 that public sentiment toward Nixon began to erode. He may well have finished out his term had it not been for the reluctant testimony of Alexander Butterfield, a Deputy Assistant to Nixon. It was Butterfield who oversaw the installation of a secret voice-activated tape recording system with its many hidden microphones in Nixon's Oval Office and elsewhere that Nixon used to surreptitiously record his conversations with others. Without the tapes, the case against Nixon may have evaporated, leaving hi...

Next month will mark 16 years that I've been journaling in my blog. I suppose that's quite a while. I kept a journal for the last three years of my four-year enlistment in the Navy so when I learned about blogs, it seemed like a natural fit for me. I dove right in. One of the main reasons I maintain my blog is to someday be able to look back on my life that was and recall more vividly memories that would otherwise likely be forgotten over the years. Something I wasn't expecting when I first began making entries here was the way in which my blog would become a place where I could sort through my thoughts—a form of therapy, actually. I've benefited from writing in it. I've spent several hours this past week going through my blog and updating links that point to our website where I've uploaded hundreds (maybe thousands) of miscellaneous photos over the years. I'm going to allow our site to go dark when it expires next year so I need to redirect links from ...

Today is the 4th anniversary of my mother's passing and the 4th anniversary of my retirement from the FAA. It's also the 4th anniversary of a hearing exam that showed I'd regained hearing in my left ear; hearing that I'd completely lost for more than a week and was told by one doctor that I'd never recover. It was the single most emotional day I've ever lived, the way those three significant events intersected at once. It's been 8 months since Tammy's hip replacement surgery. One of her recovery goals was for us to be able to go to the State Fair and for her to be able to walk pain-free. Mission accomplished! We got to the fair earlier than ever, at 7:00am and didn't leave until Herman's Hermits had finished their show at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell 15 hours later. We had such a nice time. Here's a link to some Instagram photos and videos from our day. The Red Eye Memorial is no more. The golf tournament for retired air traffic contro...

I can't recall a more active time for me in the 4 years since my retirement; and where did those 4 years go? It's in my DNA to always be moving or actively doing something even if I'm sitting still. Sometimes I'll pause to consider taking a day off and watching the world go by from our deck or with a book but then my mind begins thinking of a myriad of activities I could be doing instead. I'll occasionally meditate in the morning as a way to slow my mind and give it a timeout. I know that part of what's driving my need to stay active is the realization that my life is racing by so quickly and as much as I can, I want to make the most of it. Golfing, walking, and biking are my main go-to activities. Thanks to Tammy, I'll be adding kayaking to the list next spring. We've kayaked together twice and found it to be so much fun. We rented a tandem kayak at Lake Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) last Wednesday and paddled for 7 miles . It was nice to tr...

We spent the better part of this week vacationing 3 hours to the north in Duluth and along the North Shore as we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We had such a nice time. I've been to Duluth a number of times but I never explored the city the way we just did. It was one of those getaways where I wish we could do it all over again. We spent our first night in Tammy's hometown of Babbitt where we had dinner with her sister Cindy. We shared some nice conversation before venturing off to check out one of two local bars where we crashed the class of '89's high school reunion. I dare say we were having as much fun as anyone there dancing like it was nobody's business. We had a blast! Neither of us had ever kayaked so Tammy arranged for us to take a guided kayaking tour on our first full day in Duluth, figuring it would be something fun to try. She was so right! I think I'm hooked. I've already begun searching Craig's List for used kayaks. I can im...

On this night 50 years ago I was 5 weeks shy of my 12th birthday and about to enter 7th grade. Our family was vacationing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where we spent at least two weeks each summer. My parents had recently purchased the farmhouse my mother grew up in and its 200 acres of land—a mix of prairie grass and forest with a small stream and a strawberry field. Our nights were usually spent in the company of aunts, uncles, and cousins at either our farmhouse or Eva and Elvin's home in Winona, about 35 minutes away . I made a lot of memories during our summers in the U.P. but none more lasting than the night we'd gathered at Eva and Elvin's home (50 years ago tonight) to watch TV coverage of Apollo 11 and man's first step onto the surface of the moon. The actual event of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder of the landing module that brought them to the surface isn't what stays with me all these years later, though. Rather, it's the memory I hav...

I can handle the heat; it's the humidity I can do without! I wanted to powerwash our concrete driveway today in preparation for sealing it but it's too uncomfortable outside. So here I am, catching up on my blog with plans to go for a walk once the sun inches closer to the horizon. Workers at the Black Dog power plant along the Minnesota River in Burnsville are in the process of dismantling their tallest smokestack . I'm sad to see it go. It's been a looming presence over hundreds (maybe more than 1000) of my workouts over the years, both cycling and running. I can't explain what it is about it that resonates with me—just that it's been there since I can recall. There were times I would pass by and nonverbally say a few words to it—a greeting of sorts until the next time. The running/bike trails have been flooded over since spring with not much relief in sight, leaving torn up and displaced slabs of asphalt strewn about. There's no telling when the area wi...