Events of the Day (Page 16)

The City of Dead Works There is never any rest for me, the Ferryman of the Dead. I pole my barge across the black waters and up to the pier. So many wait this time, many more than usual. I wonder what has happened, what event has sent me this many. “Come aboard,” I say. “I will take your coin for passage.” One by one they file past me, each handing to me the coin that they never knew they had. It is the coin which determines where they shall be taken to rest, its metal shaped and determined byDown the rabbit hole….

Below the jump: some thoughts on the minimum wage. Long and liberal, so beware. (Note on structure for this post: there is no real “through-line” in terms of my “argument” here. This really is a collection of thoughts, not all of them as closely-intertwined as others.) After a lot of protesting and virtual “striking”, fast food workers have won a number of victories, most notably the State of New York recommending a raise in the minimum wage in their industry to $15 an hour. Now, there are some provisos that get overlooked in commentary on this: first, that wage isDown the rabbit hole….

This post seems to be having a viral moment, and deservedly so. It’s an elegy for an old tree. People never had trouble finding our house. “It’s the one with the giant maple in front,” I’d say, “the one with the tire swing.” That was enough. They’d see the tree, massive, 60 feet tall and almost as wide, then behind is, hiding, our 1905 farmhouse. The tree was one of the oldest in Northbrook: easily 125 years old, and was perhaps the best feature about our place. A living link to the 19th century. “I bought the tree,” I’d tellDown the rabbit hole….

Happy birthday, America! Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

A post about gay marriage, after the break…. So we’re over a week since the Supreme Court weighed in and made it legal nationwide for gays to marry, and the repercussions are still…repercussing. Some on the right are calling for the people in favor to be magnanimous in victory and nice to those poor folks who lost the case, which strikes me as a bit twee. This isn’t the end of a playoff series in the NHL, where the two teams line up for a series of handshakes before one team gets ready for its next round in the playoffsDown the rabbit hole….

Know, all who see these lines, That this man, by his appetite for honor, By his steadfastness, By his love for his country, By his courage, Was one of the miracles of the God. — Guy Gavriel Kay “The Green Field of France”, by Eric Bogle Well, how do you do, young Willie McBride, Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside? And rest for awhile ‘neath the warm summer sun, I’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done. I see by your gravestone you were only 19 When you joined the great fallen in 1916,Down the rabbit hole….