This graceful verse, written many years ago by my father-in-law, shows how he welcomed me into his family.
A name meaning “strong” like a czar,
From a rhyme is impossibly far,
But it’s not such a wrench
If you say it in French,
So we’re shouting “Hurrah for Richard!”
Several weeks ago I saw a turkey up close in Harvard Square. (No, I don’t mean a high-falutin person such as one can sometimes run into there.)
This was a real bird. To the delight of passers-by, he or she was strutting along at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Dunster Streets. This turkey seemed proud to be there and to be enjoying the attention of its audience.
Two buildings, one on a main street in Belmont, the other on a similar street in Watertown, stir memories in me when I drive by them.
They now serve as home to condo dwellers. Until a few years ago, both buildings were parish churches. Along with my parents and my brothers and sisters, I worshiped in both of them.
Yesterday, November 7, 2012, was a time of high emotion for me. The electoral outcomes I had feared might not happen, did happen. Barack Obama was chosen, both by the nationwide popular vote, and the electoral vote, for a second term as president. And Elizabeth Warren was elected U.S. Senator from Massachusetts by a margin of eight percentage points over her opponent, a sitting senator.
At this point in a seemingly endless election campaign, most people may think everything possible has been said. In the face of this highly reasonable position, let me add a few reflections of my own.
First of all, you need to know something about my presidential voting record. It started with Adlai Stevenson, whose name still resonates with some in my age cohort.
Sometimes simple pleasures prove the best.
A recent Sunday afternoon gave me ample reason to endorse this dictum. With virtually no preparation, I walked from home to a beautiful university theatre nearby, for a concert that had not been widely advertised .
For ten dollars (senior citizen discount!), the box office sold me a ticket. Then, at exactly two o’clock, the listed starting time, I settled in a seat only a few feet from the stage.
One candidate came prepared for a debate, the other for a discussion. Mitt thus scored big time while Barack lost out. I was appalled to see the president so ineffectual. It was enough to make me worry he was losing the election then and there.
Images ran through my head of what a Republican victory would bring. It would swing the whole country back into domination by the rich.
Can Barack recover from such a dismal start to the debate season of the campaign?