August 12, 2024: Political signs in Elmwood Park, Wisconsin.
Another Week: Number 87
Weather-wise, this was probably the nicest week of the summer — no storms, no heat waves, and reasonable dew points. I took advantage of it by walking 15.2 miles, all of it in the late afternoon for a change.
On both my Kenosha lakefront and Petrifying Springs routes, there are always other people out there doing the same thing, and the variety is fascinating. Sometimes a warm face will meet my eyes and exchange a nod or a wave and a hello. Other times there is absolutely no acknowledgment whatsoever and I wonder whether I’m a ghost. On Wednesday, there was a woman pushing a baby carriage who wore a dress that looked like a costume from the 1930s, and I wondered whether she was a ghost.
Another woman, whom I had seen twice before, is thoroughly engrossed in reading a book as she walks, with her sunglasses on and her head slightly cocked. So as not to interrupt her, I have not said hello, but I think she returned my smile the third day we passed each other.
Two Junes ago, while Amy was hospitalized with leptomeningeal cancer, we were discussing dreams with one of her nurses. I told this nurse that many of my dreams involved simply walking and walking an endless series of random sidewalks or stairways or concourses or hallways much like Thom Yorke does in Radiohead’s “Daydreaming” music video. The nurse told us that most of her dreams were night terrors.
On Thursday and Friday, my next-door neighbors loaded their belongings into a 26-foot U-Haul Supermover and relocated.
While living here, the husband modified the exhaust system on his pickup truck to be extremely loud — so loud that it sounded like a house explosion upon starting up. This was not our favorite thing when Amy was suffering from excruciating headaches. Still, he did once help me loosen my lug nuts with his torque wrench when I needed it.
His wife came to our neighborhood from a rural environment and was always skittish here, in what felt to her like the savage inner city. The drive-by shooting back in June at the house next to theirs likely spurred their departure.
I get that.
The part that will always puzzle me was her coldness to Amy. She would turn her head, walk away, feign preoccupation — anything to avoid saying hello to Amy or letting her outgoing little daughter do so. Amy was bewildered and hurt by this treatment. “What did I ever do to her?” she asked me.
I have no idea. For someone to have a problem with me is nothing new, but I can’t think of anyone else with such an open aversion to my late wife.
Amy has now been gone seven months, and I imagine the people next door had to notice — or that they heard the news from other neighbors. Nevertheless, in our occasional driveway encounters since then, neither of them ever said anything like, ”Sorry to hear that Amy died.”
The variety is fascinating.
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Indiana Fever 92, Seattle Storm 75: Lexie Hull 22 points!
As I have mentioned here, all the Caitlin Clark buzz early this year drew me in, and I have watched most of this season’s Indiana Fever games despite never previously being a WNBA fan.
The games are a quick two hours, and — except during the interminable replay reviews — they move at a nice clip, with plenty of passing, jostling, jump shots, and three-pointers. Caitlin Clark is a dynamo, and it’s been enthralling to watch her quickly learn and adapt to the professional game and her own stardom.
At the same time, her teammates have also found themselves in the spotlight this year, and have been turning in some riveting performances of their own. Aliyah Boston’s putbacks are are resolute. Kelsey Mitchell’s offense has been golden.
But the player I have really rooted for is guard Lexie Hull. Generally, she hasn’t been a starter this season, but as soon as she comes off the bench she’s flying around the court executing defense wherever it’s needed, distributing the ball efficiently, and working her chewing gum continuously.
Back before the All-Star Game, I would vote for her daily on the WNBA website.
As the season has progressed, she has figured more and more into the Fever’s victories. But on Sunday, she lit up like a firework, tossing layups, launching three-pointers, and enjoying the game of her career.
So far.
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2024 Democratic National Convention
As a teen, I read the Stephen King novel The Stand, which concerns a deadly pandemic after which the survivors gather into two camps: The spiritual, kind, decent, and disabled people assemble in Boulder, Colorado. Meanwhile, the followers of a fascist dictator flock together in Las Vegas.
Somehow I was reminded of that story when Milwaukee and Chicago were chosen to host this year’s Republican and Democratic national conventions, with me sitting here squarely between them.
The Republicans held their event last month, and apart from a stale odor of 1989-ish roid rage, Milwaukee was left unscathed.
Meanwhile, no media outlet anywhere could resist recalling the riots of 1968 in the lead-up to the DNC in Chicago, which made me nervous.
But when the convention unfolded, it went amazingly well. There was a thrilling diversity among the delegates. As the party’s leaders took their turns on the stage, I was gradually astounded by how much talent is all working together to improve things for Americans, each in their own way. The staging and presentation were creative and frequently fun — yet reverent and deadly serious when necessary.
Even Bill Clinton, whose speech overall was long and winding, dropped one helluva data-bomb:
Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created about 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn’t believe it. What’s the score? Democrats 50, Republicans one.
But the bottom line of each convention is its presidential candidate.
Between Trump and Harris, only one of them used their platform to assert that Lee Greenwood’s 1984 single “God Bless the U.S.A.” was recently number one on “a chart of great songs to America,” praise “the Hulkster” for his ability “to lift a 350-pound man over his shoulders and then bench press him two rows into the audience,” and also predict that “Green Bay is gonna have a good team this year” while obviously not recalling the name of Green Bay’s team.
Anyone with access to YouTube can watch both speeches and ask themselves which candidate honestly makes a more credible leader of the free world.
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I naturally think of her every day, but lately it’s become several times a day. I just know how thrilled and engaged she’d be with the progression of the campaign trail. I am finally able to visit your site without heavy sadness and I’m filled gratitude that it exists. I hope this finds you well.
Thanks very much, Michelle.