Post 50/2021 Saturday 11 December . . . We spent a day in Chicago this week. The radiance of Christmas trees met us coming and going, even as caution played out in travel, Christkindl Market, and, except for the Market, smaller numbers of people afoot. Everyone on the South Shore Line, an electrically powered interurban …
Author: John Bender
Hi, my name is John Bender, retired and loving it. I'm writing to help interested people cross bridges to and from the past. Stories from the past can shed light on life in the present and illuminate the future. We've got a lot of living to do. Let's do it!
Transformed by walking
Post 49/2021 Saturday 4 December . . . Converting water to steam, effects a transformation. By boiling water, you change or convert a thing into a different thing. Digesting food converts it to energy. Reading books converts them to entertainment, information, inspiration. Going on a walking pilgrimage can effect a personal transformation. The latter effect …
Friends, Re-Turn Sunday, thanks, books+, trees
Post 48/2021 Saturday 27 November . . . A week ago, we joined Alice and Willard Roth at Cabin Coffee for a breakfast bite and palaver in a heated "igloo." The cafe has two such "igloo" facsimiles. It was fun to watch a dad and two children make the most of the other one. After …
Continue reading Friends, Re-Turn Sunday, thanks, books+, trees
A novel idea
Post 47/2021 Friday 19 November . . . I recently read an article about the Human Library. The idea is that this library brings people together just as a regular library does. On its website, the Human Library says it "creates a safe space for dialogue where topics are discussed openly between human books and …
Walking works wonders, alliteration aside
Post 46/2021 Saturday 13 November . . . It was mostly a very fine week for walks hither and yon, all within 10 miles of home. Mostly, I say, until the latter part of the week set in with rain, the first snow flurries, and we had errands to run by car. Today (Saturday), we'll …
Notation on November
Post 45/2021 Saturday 6 November . . . "November (Lat. novem, nine) The ninth month in the ancient Roman calendar when the year began in March; now the eleventh. The old Dutch name was Slaght-maand (slaughter-month, the time when the beasts were slain and salted down for winter use); the old Saxon Wind-monath (wind-month, when …
Sprightly, sprightly soars our kite
Post 44/2021 Friday 29 October . . . Tuesday, while getting a haircut, the barber asked me what I had planned for the rest of the day. "I'm going to fly a kite," I said. He stopped mid-snip and said, "Really? It's been a long time since I've seen a kite fly." I told him …
Peace of mind
Post 43/2021 Saturday 23 October . . . Feeling safe or protected. That makes for peace of mind. Conversely, giving someone a piece of one's mind, even if deserved, can stir up anger and resentment and thwart feelings of safety and protection. This play on words makes me smile. With the second you've gotten something …
Among the headlines
Post 42/2021 Friday 15 October . . . "Canadian among trio of Nobel winners," read the headline in the Waterloo Region Record, Tuesday, October 12, page A9. The opening sentence of the Associated Press story, datelined Stockholm, said, "A U.S.-based economist won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for pioneering research that transformed widely held …
Threads of connection
Post 41/2021 Saturday 9 October . . . Sometimes the threads that connect lives--past to present, in the moment, present to future--surface in unexpected ways. Here's one: The day after I finished reading The Paris Library I read a column in The Newberry Times, titled "Just Bill," Bill Diem wrote about his recent attendance at …
It's About Now 