The Price of Oil

The Department of Energy held a conference earlier this month.  One of the recurring themes of the speakers was the “slingshot effect” that current low oil prices could have on future production and future prices.   The prevailing theory is that if oil companies cut back too far on their investments, the world could find itself [...]

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Spring

Spring is coming.  Out for my morning walk, I heard the first varied thrush of the year.  The breeze is warmer, with every day above freezing.  The days are noticeably longer, and the sun actually feels warm to these old bones.  The buds on the alders are beginning to swell.

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Searching for a Senator

I try not to let incompetent fools irritate the crap out of me, but sometimes it’s really difficult.  It’s taken years. but I’ve learned to smile at checkstand personnel in stores who can’t figure out change for a $5 bill without the help of electronics.  But our Governor gets to me.
I don’t think that Sarah [...]

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Dinghy Sailing

From Bernard Moitessier on why you should learn to sail a dinghy.  For non-sailors, Bernard Moitessier is a legendary solo sailor and Optimists are small dinghies often used for training kids to sail.
…when we got to the yacht club, we were greeted by a swarm of 10 to 12 year old children who were about [...]

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Reed-Throated Wisperer

While I, From that reed-throated whisperer
Who comes at need, although not now as once
A clear articulation in the air,
But inwardly, surmise companions
Beyond the fling of the dull ass’s hoof
-Ben Johnson’s phrase- and find when June is come
At Kyle-na-no under that ancient roof
A sterner conscience and a friendlier home,
I can forgive even that wrong of wrongs,
Those [...]

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Sailing to Byzantium

THAT is no country for old men. The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations – at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry [...]

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Old Man Chung (for Senator Ted Stevens)

North of the city lived old man Chung;
his larder was full of meat and wine.
Ah, the day his poor wife died
the funeral guests overflowed the hall.
But when old man Chung himself passed on,
not a single soul came to weep.
Those who ate his roasts and downed his wine
had hearts that were colder than you would have [...]

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Would've, Could've, Should've

Ted Stevens’ conviction has been thrown out, due to prosecutor malfeasance.  I feel sorry for “Uncle Ted”, who has been a leader of Alaska since the beginning.  He was instrumental in Alaska becoming a state.  But neither he nor I are the tigers we used to be.  At 85 years old, maybe it is time [...]

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Han-Shou

A mountain man lives under thatch
before his gate carts and horses are rare
the forest is quiet but partial to birds
the streams are wide and home to fish
with his son he picks wild fruit
with his wife he hoes between rocks
what does he have at home
a shelf full of nothing but books.
Han-Shou

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Updated Palin Poll Numbers

Hays Research Group has released new poll numbers.  Here’s the updated graph of Governor Sarah Palin’s approval rating among Alaskans (the original graph was part of an earlier post, here):
Her numbers are continuing to dip.  Some of this may be an aberration due to her recent spat with the legislature, but the long-term erosion of [...]

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