Aurora Borealis, Bar Harbor, ME 10/10/2024

The following morning, Rob taught me that the ejection of a piece of the sun (coronal mass ejection) into space included protons and electrons. If the coronal mass ejection is aimed at the earth, when the particle reach the earth’s magnetosphere, the protons and electron interact with atomic and molecular nitrogen and oxygen at an altitude of about 60 or 90 miles. The resultant energy of the incoming protons is transferred to an electron orbiting nitrogen or oxygen and provides sufficient energy so that the orbiting electron transiently jump into a higher energy orbit, which then rapidly decays back to it original, lower energy orbit by emitting a photon in the red, pink, or green portion of the electromagnetic spectrum… the Aurora Borealis.

October 1:

We had our second meeting of my MIT alumni ReeBrunch (retiREEs Brunch) group. Including myself, there was six people who attended this brunch and the conversation was again interesting. One of the participants is considering setting up a similar group a western suburb of Boston as it took him an hour to get to our venue in Davis Square. I’ve encouraged him to do so and I’ve offered to help in anyway I can, but I will not run that group.

September 28:

I gave my lecture, Designing Your Retirement, to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. A link to a video of that lecture can be found here.  I would estimate that 1/3 of the attendees really like the talk, 10-15% think it is has little value and the remainder are glad they attended the lecture. For attendee comments, see this link. 

I’m currently scheduled to give my lecture on October 17 at the Robb (Senior) Center in Andover and again to the MIT Club of Boston on November 16 and will continue giving a lecture as long as people keep signing up to hear the talk. Recently, I’ve expanded the lecture to include a slide about neuroplasticity.

September 27:

Gail and I attended the MIT Alumni Leadership Conference at MIT. The opening address was given by the Mresident of MIT, Sally Kornbluth. In my opinion, she has done a fantastic job shepherding MIT through this last academic year, which has seen the resignation of the women presidents of University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cornell, and Harvard University. After her opening statements, the keynote address was given by Jason Jay, a lecturer at the Sloan School who discussed climate change. He walked us through a computer model, the En-ROADS simulation tool, developed by Climate Interactive and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, that enables one to better understanding of the effectiveness of various potential interventions to mitigate our Homo Sapien created climate catastrophe. The model is freely available online for anybody who wants to use it.

September 26:

Gail and I went to Central Square Theater to see their production The Hound of the Baskervilles (2010). This comedy was written and originally performed in England. All previous productions had three male actors performed a total of 12 parts. Central Square Theater used three women actors and, from my perspective, the play was no better nor worse as a result of this substitution. And it was entertaining.

September 19–22: A trip to a friend’s wedding in DC

Gail and I took the train to DC to attend the wedding of a close friends’ daughter. The train ride was a bit of a fiasco. We were supposed to leave at 8 AM and arrive about 8 hours later. At 6 AM we received an email that the train was canceled due to technical issues. We scrambled to get on an 8 AM train, but its departure was delayed until about 9:30 AM. We will probably fly the next time we go to DC as the entire trip will be less expensive and of shorter duration, albeit a bit more stressful.

We have been friends with the bride’s parents since the late 1980s, as they and I were interns/residents at Vanderbilt together. Over the years, we have also developed a friendship with the bride. She lived in our house for a brief period of time when she attended MIT and our families have vacation together a few times when our kids were young.

The wedding events were held in Old Town Alexandra (which floods every night), and it was a delightful setting. All events were within easy walking distance of the hotel. It was fun to again interact with the bride, her siblings, and parents, and it was a lot of fun talking to the bride’s friends, who either were finishing up or had recently completed their PhD at Berkeley, discussing various issues concerning the present and future of our world. It was my sense that they too enjoyed the conversation.

September 18:

I attended my monthly Rembrunch meeting, and as usual, I enjoy talking to the other men in attendance. I really need to get one or two more men to join this group, but do far, all of my invitations have been declined.

September 15:

We attended the American Repertory Theater production of Romeo and Juliet. I can’t say that it left a lasting impression, but I thought the staging was impressive. Most of the audience seem to really enjoy the production as the audience gave the performers a standing ovation.

September 14:

Gail attended her 50th high school reunion and had a great time. For obvious reasons, it would’ve been inappropriate (and boring) for me to have attended.

September 13:

I attended a book party of a friend, the science writer Ellen Ruppel Shell, who just published her latest book Slippery Beast, a true crime, natural history, travel, and big business story. I wish her all the best. The book party occurred at one of her friend’s homes in Cambridge and it was a very interesting group of people to talk to. Gail and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.

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September 12, 2024: Back in the groove.

Since I’ve been back and settled into routine:

1. Gail’s junior high school friend Liz stayed with us
2. I gave my Designing Your Retirement talk at the MIT Club of Boston
3. I had my first MIT Club of Boston Reebrunch (retiREEs Brunch)
4. we had dinner in Boston with some friends who were our neighbors when the four of us lived in Andover
5. I have made some major progress on my coasters
6. I have resumed cycling
7. I have given up on the book “Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication” by Arik
8. Rocket and Mason have begun to play with each other.

Item I: Liz is always fun to talk with.

Item II: My MIT Club of Boston Designing Your Retirement talk was “OK.” I ran into- some technical problem that I had to work around, so I was a bit flustered. But I think the talk was well received. In the near future, I am going to look into expanding the six evidence-based objects, if I can find data that convincingly support two hypotheses I have been thinking about. My redesign of the slide presentation, with more slides, but less information on each slide worked out very well. I will give the talk again in late September (CCAE.org) and again in early October (Robb Center in Andover.) I’ve also come up with some ideas about how to make the talk shorter. I need to think about this before moving forward with a revised, shorter format.

Item III: I ran into a problem with my first ReeBrunch meeting. There were only two people beside myself in attendance (10 signed-up), but there were five or six people inside the café looking for us. I had arrived 30 minutes early and set up a table for 11 people in the outdoor seating area of the café, as it was a beautiful 75° but those on the inside didn’t see or recognize me. When I arrived, I left a message with the front desk to have the manager talk with me, as I spoke with him the night before about this event, but either he didn’t get the message or he was just too busy. It was very unfortunate that we all didn’t get together and I feel bad about this. Hopefully, those who didn’t get to meet with us will attend our next meeting, which will be the first week of October. I think this concept of a recurring meeting of retired MIT alumni just to talk, might be something that can occur in multiple other locations, as there seems to be a hunger for this type of interaction. We shall see.

Item IV: V and S are always fun to talk with and it is alway worthwhile listening to their ideas/insights.

Item V: I am entering the final stage of my coaster project, as I have now used up all the wood that was prepared for this project. It only needs final sanding and finishing:

32 Coasters, the 5 to the left of the pencil have been sanded.

Item VI: I have resumed cycling (movie) the Minuteman Bikeway, and loving it. It is my mediation.

Item VII: I gave up on the book “Why Animals Talk,” after listening to 25%. The book contained very little convincing data and a lot of speculation as to what the author thought may be happening between the animals.  I want to read a book about what/how/why animals are communicating to each other, not a book about the speculation of what may be going on between animals. I also dislike the fact that the author stated that the only animals that have names for each other are humans and dolphins, or the more generalized belief that humans are uniquely capable among all the animals in the world. For the self-given names example, I think a more appropriate statement would be for the author to have said that the only animals we know that name themselves are humans and dolphins.

“The Null Hypothesis” for Animal Behavioral Research

Of late, I believe that the null hypothesis with respect to animal behaviors should be the assumption that whatever is true for humans is also true for animals, until proven otherwise. We are all part of the same evolutionary tree, so the assumption should be a similarity between us and the animals, not a dissimilarity. I reject the idea that they are “dumb” animals and only humans have “skill/thought/imagination/emotion/use tools/collaborate/strategize/etc”. I think my null hypothesis is a more rational and defensible starting point when trying to understand the insects and animals, especially if one truly believe in the science of evolution.

Item VIII: As far as I can recall, Rocket has never played with another dog, so it was very encouraging to see Rocket and Mason playing together for the second time.

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September 4, 2024: Now, post-road trip. Settling in to my routine

Since my coast to coast road trip, I’ve been settling into my prior routine. I have resumed cycling, which has been most welcome, and I mostly finished up this latest walnut frame, which will go to Calder.

I am now seriously trying to stop procrastinating and begin to prepare for my next Designing Your Retirement lecture to the MIT club at Boston in three days.

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8/14-29/2024

A Solo Road Trip: 7,226 miles, in a Tesla, over 16 days, with two dogs. What could possibly go wrong?

The below travelogue (in burgundy colored text) is in reverse chronologic order. The first day of the road trip, Day 1 (8/14/24) is at the bottom of this travelogue (click here to jump to Day 1), while the most recent and final travelogue entry, Day 16, (8/29/24) will be just below this paragraph. Please forgive grammatical errors, as I am not spend much time editing – my goal was to get my thoughts down quickly and move on, both figuratively and literally.

 

Day 16, Thursday, 8/29/24

Miles traveled:  551 miles

States: Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts

Title: There’s no place like home: Last day of my solo, 7,226 mile, introspective adventure

 

I’m on my last 580 miles, Day 16, of my “introspective adventure.”

Last night I slept in a La Quinta Inn last night in Erie, PA, and had a shower. I left Erie, PA at about 6:30 AM and I arrived home at  5:30 PM. Just before I entered Massachusetts, I stopped for lunch and meaningful conversation at Larry’s house in the Berkshires. It was nice to see Mason play with his dog Otis.

With this adventure coming to a close in a few hours, I thought I would ask myself:

What stood out during my road trip?

What did I learn from or during this 16 day sojourn?

What follows is a lightly edited “stream of consciousness” dictation I created while driving on Day 16.

 

Alone ≠ Loneliness

I learned that I do pretty well on my own; I don’t feel lonely, despite the absence of social interactions. 

That should not be interpreted to mean that I don’t need or want social contact. I definitely do. There were multiple times during the trip when I reached out to family and friends in an attempt to create a conversation. And I am very grateful to those who took the time to call me while I was on the road–some called to make sure I was safe, others called because they were curious about my adventure, and some called as they “read between the lines” of my emails and understood I wanted some conversation. To all of you, I immensely appreciated your call and hope I did not keep you on the phone too long. 

Even though I have been working to expand my social contacts and meaningful social relations since retiring, this trip has convinced me that my failure, to date, of having significantly expanded my social circle does not doom me to feeling lonely or unhappy. 

In my Designing Your Retirement research, I came across many studies that addressed this issue–the correlation between meaningful social relationships and happiness as well as the correlation between social interactions and loneliness.

The National Academy of Sciences published a report in 2020, Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults, and reported that there was a small segment of the population who have few social contacts, but do not feel lonely. 

I think I fit into that demographic, what I would call the “non-lonely, lonely.”

Nevertheless family and friends bring me joy and I believe it is healthier to have qualitatively and quantitatively more friends. So I’m going to continue to try to expand my circle of meaningful social relations. If I only succeed in adding more acquaintances, that will still be a bonus.

 

Road Trip Visuals

Our country is large and scenically diverse. These are some of the sights that have left a visual impression on me

• The hot, dry Mojave Desert

• The curated and chaotic urbanity of San Francisco

• The grandeur of the Rocky Mountains

• The serenity and majesty of the Grand Canyon

• The flatness of mid-America

• The remarkable Interstate highway system which delivers a ceaseless stream of products to distance Americans

• The immense manufacturing plants, chemical plants, oil refineries that dot the vast empty spaces across America.

• The dry and mostly uninhabited terrain of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, which seems to extend forever

• Iowa’s interstate had a necklace of electricity generating windmills from border to border. Upon crossing the Iowa border into Nebraska, it was obvious that Nebraska had made a political decision to deprioritize wind power. Texas too, to my surprise, had many electricity generating windmills.

• Iowa and Nebraska’s endless fields of crops.

• The Painted Cliffs/Colorado Plateau/ Red Rock Country of New Mexico 

• The never ending procession of freight trains in America’s southwest

• The Tetons (my happy place)

• The truck stops – a transient yet definitive community on the move across the US

• The plethora of power lines emanating from Niagara Falls

At the very end of my trip, as I entered eastern New York and western Massachusetts, I came upon the verdant hills of the Berkshires, covered in maple, walnut, oak, poplar, elm, beech, ash, and birch trees. It was as if I was seeing the undeniable lushness, vitality, seasonal and perennial beauty of the New England’s forests for the first time.

Of course, New England’s forests are not as grand as the Tetons or majestic as the Grand Canyon, but they are my favorite ecosystem.

I did see some Trump signs along the way, and every time I saw one, I would say to myself “How could this person possibly believe that Trump is good for America? How could this person believe Trump is going to do anything to make their lives or their children’s life’s better unless it also enriches Trump?” “Why do they believe his propaganda?”  I avoided all political conversations during my trip.

 

Driving a Tesla on a Road Tip

Tesla has an optional feature called “autodrive” that controls the steering and velocity of the car. If the Tesla knows your destination, autodrive will automatically enter or exit the highway, make turns, recognize traffic lights and stop signs, merge with traffic, navigate rotaries, and change lanes as needed, so as to get me to my destination. I found it to be especially useful in ensuring I did not get lost.

I have found autodrive to be very helpful on the highway and in “stop and go” traffic, but I wouldn’t use it in an intense city traffic environment, with lots of bikers, walkers, as occur in Somerville, Manhattan or San Francisco

As autodrive maps its environment (pets, people, car, bikes, motorcycles, curbs, speed limit signs, stop signs, traffic lights), I felt reasonably safe, in non-congested traffic situations, taking my eyes off the road for a few seconds. This eliminated driving fatigue, even if I was driving for 14 hours. 

If I did not touch the steering wheel for 30 seconds, or I picked-up my cell phone and looked at the phone, the car would detect these unsafe activities and issue a warning–which, if ignored, would disengage autodrive. If one repeatedly ignored these warnings, then one could permanently lose access to autodrive.

On a long road trip like this, I used autodrive 40-50% of the time. Other times I would engage adaptive cruise control (velocity) while I did the steering, or I would take full control, especially if I was in an area that was under construction, had people, or complicated intersections.

 

A Mobile Community of Tesla Drivers

One thing that I noticed during my road trip, was the existence of a Tesla community of drivers. While recharging at a Tesla Supercharging station, I would sometime come upon a fellow Tesla driver who wanted to talk about their Tesla experience. Other times I might see a person who I had seen at a prior Tesla Supercharging station. 

I met Tesla driver at a supercharging station in Idaho who proudly told me his Tesla had over 310,000 miles. He was retired and he and his wife drive around Wyoming, Idaho, Montana area, seeing the sites. He must do a lot of driving. 

Many people told me they were on their second Tesla. 

One person at a Tesla Supercharging station came running over to ask me how much it cost to recharge my Tesla ($5-$20), as he was thinking of trading in for a newer Tesla, but had delayed this transaction as his current Tesla gives him free charging.

I approached Tesla couple at a Supercharging station when I recognized their dogs from a previous Supercharging station. We had a pleasant conversation – they were on a road trip to Oregon where they were going to either hike or car camp on the Oregon coast.

I spoke to a couple at a roadside scenic vista in the Tetons who told me that they had two Tesla’s because Teslas have “dog mode”. Google “Tesla dog mode”

 

Sleeping in My Car at a Truck Stop

I have found that sleeping in a truck stop was a far more efficient way to travel long distances than staying in the hotel. The truck stop was also logistically easier. 

The truck stops were typically located either at a highway rest area (with restrooms) or they were located it was just off the highway, near a large, well-lit store, that had an ample supply of food, coffee, junk food, beer, and clean restrooms.  

After recharging, I would look for a spot to park that was well-lit but did not light the interior of the car. I would put the car in to “camp mode“ and the temperature would be maintained all night. The car would be locked, with one dog on the front passenger seat and the other in the back. I would lower the driver seat until it was nearly horizontal and was comfortable with my two pillows. If either dog had to go out to pee at night, it was very easy to quickly get back to sleep.

Of course, hotels had the benefit of a shower but were not as efficient if your goal is to cover as much terrain in as little time as possible.

But, I really did enjoy the occasional hotel hot shower.

For more on driving a Tesla, see my entry of 8/26/24 “Thoughts on driving a Tesla cross-country”.

 

Traveling Alone, With Two Dogs

Traveling with the dogs made the trip more fun as it provided somebody for me to interact with. One behavior that I noticed myself engaging in was repeatedly checking that I had not forgotten a dog. Every hour or two, I would reach into the backseat to ensure I still had two dogs. I know this was irrational, but I also found it to be reassuring.

Traveling alone was advantageous as it enabled me to alter my travel on a moment’s notice, sleep wherever I wanted, and likely reduced the stress of the trip. I think it would have been much less likely that I would have visited the Tetons if I had a human traveling companion.

 

Listening to Music and Audiobooks

Music and audiobooks made the trip immensely more enjoyable.

 

Future Creative Endeavors

I am looking forward to getting home and back to my creative endeavors, which I divide into artistic and intellectual undertakings. 

In the artistic realm, I have some picture frame projects that are in process. 

Frame for Calder

I am working on a frame for one of Gail’s abstract painting (a class exercise)-a painting Calder wants. The frame is mostly done, it just needs a small revision (routing) then a final sanding and finishing. I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like when it’s all finished. 

Frame for Sierra

There is a frame for Sierra that I refer to as a “multi-layered ripple” frame. I don’t know what I’m going to put into that frame, and that issue needs to be resolved between Sierra, Gail, and I before I begin construction–but the prototyping of the frame has been completed.

A Construct of World Sites Sculpture 

As I mentioned in an earlier diary entry, I have this vision of creating a sculpture for our very small front yard (about 10 x 20 feet) which would be composed of small plastic models of important landmarks from around the world: The Statue of Liberty,  Empire State building, Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Egyptian pyramids, Eiffel Tower, and maybe some spectacular geologic formations such as Denali, the Matterhorn, etc. I have a ChatGPT-generated list of 100 items and I’d like to put together an assemblage of plastic models, that are 6 and 12 inches tall, attach them to a board and then put them on my front yard. I think this would be visually interesting and people will try to identify as many as they can. Gail thinks that this would not be appropriate for our front yard, but I promise her it would only be there for 1-2 two months and then we can trash it.

Writing

Writing about the day’s road trip adventure has been a creative and intellectual endeavor that I looked forward to every evening during this road trip, even when I was tired. While my prose is not quality literature, the process of dictating while driving, and, in the evening, cursorily revising and posting my ruminations to My Retirement Diary have been fun.

I’m well aware that few, if any, people will actually read what I wrote on these pages, but that doesn’t diminish the fun of writing. 

My essay of 8/19/2024 was specifically written for Gail; I wanted her to “see” the beauty of the Tetons under a full moon. When I took the dogs out to pee at 3 AM I did not bring my iPhone/camera. When I saw that I had the entire scenic vista to myself, the magnificence of the moon, clouds, mountains and lake, I decided to walk to a scenic overlook to get a better view. Of course, if I had my camera, I simply would have taken a picture and sent it to Gail; not having the camera, and wanting to share the view with her, forced me to describe the ambience in prose. I am glad I did not have the camera.

Last night, 8/28/2024, I wrote about why I do not believe in God. Of course, it is a very rough essay, both in terms of grammar and logic, and few if any will read it, but it was fun to write. And maybe I will revise and expand on it in the future.

Designing Your Retirement Lecture

I am looking forward to preparing for and giving my upcoming lectures:

• September 7, 2024 9:30-11:00 AM MIT Club of Boston, Cambridge Public Library, Rossi Room
• September 28, 2024 9:30-11:00 AM Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Cambridge, MA
• October 17, 2024 6-8PM The Robb Center, Andover, MA

 

Regrets

I regret that I didn’t get to do any real hiking in the national parks. On the other hand, my time was limited, in the sense that I did not want to extend the duration of the road trip. The brief walks I did with the dogs were mostly satisfying and met my needs.

I regret that I was not able to share some of my experiences with Gail. I know she would have hated the car ride but loved the Tetons and the Grand Canyon. For me, sharing any experience with Gail is better than experiencing the event alone.

I missed not being able to exercise during my trip. Cycling is my most enjoyable form of exercise. I hope to rectify this omission as soon as I get home.

I regret I did not photograph a barn in Oklahoma, as I whizzed by at 75-80 mph. It was red barn, but not the classic red-burgundy of most barns. This barn’s red was a few shades brighter; somewhere between burgundy and fire-engine red. The barn was in perfect condition,  located in the middle of a large field, all alone, surrounded by greenery and bright yellow flowers. It was idyllic and beautiful.

Those are some of the thoughts I had on Day 16 of my 7,226 mile, introspective adventure.

And, of course, there is no place like home.

Hayward Zwerling, 8/20/2024

 

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Day 15, Wednesday, 8/28/24

Miles traveled:  680 miles

States: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania 

Title: Day 3 of Homeward Bound

7 AM: I slept in the car in the parking lot of Wally’s in Fenton, MO. This is the third night in a row I slept in the car. I need a shower tonight; although the dogs don’t care, I have no sense of smell, and I do not get near anyone.

A few days ago I came across a new song by Nick Cave, “Wild God” which I thought was fantastic, especially the crescendo ending. The song reminded me of a choral religious song with a big ending. Larry sent me an NPR interview with Nick Cave (he is new to me), which I promptly listened to, and, in fact, the song is about God and the Christian bible plays a big part in the musician’s life and his music, although he hasn’t quite figured out what is the role that religion plays in his life. It was also interesting that Nick cave really doesn’t know what his lyrics “mean” (he is the sole author of the lyrics) and sometimes the meaning only becomes apparent and some point in the future when he and the band play the song in a concert for the umpteenth time.

The song and the interview made me want to write an essay explaining why I don’t believe in the existence of God

The following is essentially a stream of consciousness that I dictated into my iPhone while driving. It was lightly edited at 10 PM, after a 14 hour drive. I know it is rough and it needs work (both in terms of logic and grammar) and it is not intended for others to read. But this is MY retirement diary and I wanted to put down these ideas, maybe I will come back to them in the future. 

Why I do not believe in God?

Bullet Point #1: Man is only a tiny step beyond our evolutionary predecessors, we are not special.

Homo sapien is the terminus of earth’s evolutionary tree. As such, everything about us has occurred in prior species, although we are only one step further on the evolutionary tree of the other primates. The fundamental biology and physiology of all life forms which preceded us, is still within us. And this even applies to single cell organism.

In addition, clearly, some animals “reason” and many/?all animals have emotions. Anybody who has lived with or worked with animals for any period of time, know that cows, horses, dogs, parrots, cats, primates, etc, knows that animals have emotions. We are not so different from our evolutionary predecessors, we are only one tiny evolutionary step beyond them. Essentially, everything that goes on in our body and brain, like exists in most/?all or our evolutionary predecessors.

As many/most Homo sapiens believe God exists, then it is logical to conclude that if God exists and has influence on the lives of Homo sapiens, then that is also logically true for all the other species. And given that many/?all species display cognition, and is was our cognition that led us to believe god exists, then it is logical to conclude that all the other species also believe God exists, as we are not so different from all the others. Thus, the bugs, butterflies, birds, bears, and even the paramecium, also believe God exists. The ridiculousness of this statement confirms the absurdity of the hypothesis.

Bullet Point #2: “Life” is too complicated to have occurred spontaneously. God must have create it.

Science has demonstrated that “life” is so complicated, that it is rational to conclude that life could not have happened spontaneously. It could only have developed because God made it so.

This argument fails to recognize that any entity that could design all of life in the universe would have to be many orders of magnitude more complicated than all of the scientific processes we have discovered. So, to justify the existence of a God on the basis that life is just too complicated to occur spontaneously and then  hypothesize the existence of a vastly more complicated entity is completely irrational.

I would also point out that all of those things that we are unable to fully explain at this point it time will be rationally explained by science, in time. Remember, people once thought the Earth was flat and you would fall off the edge of the Earth if you went out too far into the ocean. People once thought that the sun orbited around the Earth. He’s more sincere beliefs. Ultimately science explained what we did not understand. The same will happen with all the other extant scientific questions.

Bullet Point #3: Why did Homo sapiens create the concept of a god

I believe Homo sapiens created the concept of God because the species is uncomfortable  accepting the unknown as simply an “unknown.” For some reason, our species need to believe that everything happened for a reason. There needs to be a reason why bad things happen to good people. They need explanation as to what happens when people die. 

Rather than address the question “why did Homo sapiens create the concert of God?” I think philosophers and scientist should answer the question “why is our species incapable of accepting an unknown as an unknown. Why do we believe that everything has to have a reason and we need to understand it today, even as we acknowledge that our explanation as to why something happens is totally made up?”

Bullet Point #4: Why does every Homo sapien tribe believe their “God” is the only true God?

Every Homo sapien tribe that hypothesizes the existence of a God is absolutely certain that their conception of God is valid and all the other tribes’ gods are wrong or blasphemous.

A Greeks had many gods and attributed good luck in bad luck to the Gods. They were absolutely convinced that they were right.

Modern monotheistic society today looks back on the Greeks concept of God as irrational. Of course, if the Greeks were able to look forward in time, they would consider our monotheistic interpretation as irrational.

Even within religions, there are a slight variations in the belief of about God and many are willing to kill each other over these differences.

Of course, if there was an all powerful god or gods, their existence would be invariant in time. The fact that the Homo sapiens species cannot agree on such a single definition of god, only belies the absurdity of the hypothesis that God(s) exist.

Bullet Point #5: Why does every Homo sapien tribe believe atheist are evil/dangerous?

Having been a physician, I can tell you that when there’s a medical question for which there was a lack of scientific consensus, many physicians become very dogmatic that they “know” what is the right thing to do–even if there is no science to support their understanding–and that everybody who disagrees with their opinion is obviously an idiot.

I think that those who believe God exist are fundamentally threatened by the atheists, they are scared that someone else has concluded that the theists’ world view is flawed and the theists think they are entitled to ostracized/ignore/harm/convert/eliminate the atheists as a way to protect their theist world view from interrogation.

11 PM: Time to go to sleep. I drive home to Gail tomorrow. I should arrive after supper. This solo, cross country road trip has been a wonderful introspective adventure.

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Day 14, Tuesday, 8/27/24

Miles traveled:  736 miles

States: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri

Title: Still Homeward Bound, Day 2

 

I overnighted in Amarillo, Texas near the Tesla Supercharging station. I resumed my travels in a northeast direction at 6:30 AM. At 8 AM, I left Texas and entered Oklahoma.

Yesterday I finished The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. As you know, Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, left his wife (Penelope) and his 4 year old son Telemachus to fight with the Greeks against the City of Troy in the Trojan War. The war took place because Paris, the Prince of Troy, either capture and stole, or cajoled, Helen (the most beautiful mortal woman), who was  the wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta, and took her to be his wife in Troy.

After the Greeks sieged the city of Troy for 10 years, the Greeks finally sacked the city because Achilles (the greatest of the Greek warriors) finally decided to join the fight. The Greeks took Helen back to Menelaus, killed all the men of Troy and took all the women and children as their slaves.

Although the other Greeks returned home promptly, it took Odysseus 10 years to get back to Ithaca, as the gods (primarily Poseidon and Calypso), interfered with his return. 

The below is an excerpt from the end of Book 23 ( of 24 books) of The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. In it, Odysseus has been reunited with his wife and he is telling her what happened to him during his 2 decade absence.

(Odysseus and Penelope) went to bed inside the darkened house, and when the couple had enjoyed their lovemaking, they shared another pleasure, telling stories. 

She told him how she suffered as she watched the crowd of suitors, ruining the house, killing so many herds of sheep and cattle and drinking so much wine because of her.

Odysseus told her how he had hurt so many other people and in turn how much he had endured himself.

She loved to listen, and she did not fall asleep until he told it all.

First, how he slaughtered the Sycanese, then traveled to field of Lotus Eaters, what the cyclops did, and how he paid him back for ruthlessly eating his men. Then how he reached Eolus, who welcomed him and helped him, but it was not yet his fate to come back home, a storm snatched him and bore him off across the sea, howling frustration. Then he said he came to Lystragonia, whose people wrecked his fleet and killed his men, and he described the cleverness of Circe [who turned Odysseus’ men into swine] and his journey to Hades to consult Tiresias and how he saw all his dead friends, and saw his mother who had loved him as a baby. Then how he heard the siren’s endless voices and reach the wandering rocks in terrible Charybdis, and how he had been the first to get away from Scylla [a monster with six long necks equipped and grisly heads, each containing three rows of sharp teeth]. And he told her of how his crew devoured the sun god’s cattle. Zeus roared with smoke and thunder, lightning struck the ship, and all his loyal men were killed. But he survived and drifted to Ogygia . He told her how Calypso trapped him there inside her hollow cave and wanted him to be her husband. She took care of him and promised she could set him free from death in time for forever; but she never swayed his heart. He suffered terribly for years. And then he reached Phaeacia, where the people looked up to him as if he were a god, and sent him in a ship back home again to his dear Ithaca, with gifts of bronze and gold and piles of clothes. 

His story ended, sweet sleep released his heart from all his cares.

Here is the audio clip from Emily Wilson’s translation.

If you find that intriguing, listen to the audiobook.

So far my sojourn has worked out very well. Some minor bugs along the way, but nothing too bad. 

Before I left on this introspective adventure, I was considering have a friend accompany me on the west leg of the journey. I’m glad I decide to do this solo, as it gave me unlimited travel flexibility, like sleeping in the car. Although this may sound odd, it is definitely more efficient, time-wise, than sleeping in a hotel.

I know that I gave up an opportunity at “male bonding,” but I am happy with my decision.

Maybe this confirms that I am one of those people the psychologist would classify as a “loner” who does not feel lonely. But the reader should not conclude that this means that I do not want to expand my number or quality of meaningful social relationships. I do.

3:30 PM, I left Oklahoma and entered Missouri. 

8:30 PM, I’m in Fenton, Missouri, which is a suburb west of St. Louis. I have recharged the car and this is where I will spend the night, next to a Wally’s store. They are clearly geared up for this sort of thing, they even have a RV in the store.

Only 1,207 miles until I get home to Gail.

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Day 13, Monday, 8/26/24

Miles traveled:  707 miles

States: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Title: Homeward Bound

 

It is 6 AM and I am about to leave Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. I am so glad I visited the Grand Canyon South Rim. Having read (most of) Kevin Fedarko’s Walk in the Park, I know that there is so much more to the park, multiple ecosystems, beyond what I have seen.

The route home will be about 2,600 miles. As I average 50 mph (including stops) I should be able to get home by late Friday.

But first, a stop for coffee.

When I got on Interstate 40 East, the Apple Maps directions were “for 778 miles, continue straight.”

While driving through Arizona and New Mexico, I saw lots of moving freight trains, one or two miles long and with 2-5 engines. 

The red rock hills of New Mexico, which paralleled Interstate 40, were quite beautiful.

What I have seen so far of Texas is flat scrubland, and, in some areas, a lot of windmills. I think Texas is second to Iowa for wind power usage.

Thoughts on driving a Tesla cross-country

I thought I’d talk a little bit about driving in EV cross country. 

I believe I had to stop more frequently to refuel than I would have had to do in an internal combustion engine. But, my prostate causes me to stop every 2 hours, which is about the same frequency as the car needs to charge.

My car, when new, had a range of 310 miles. My Tesla Model 3 was one of the first and is now 6 years old; the battery degradation is about 10%, apparently this is the maximum of battery loss to be expected and additional loss would be covered by warrant upto 8 years. 

Today, if I charge the battery to 100%, the range is now about 270 miles.

When charging the car, the rate miles are added to the battery is a function of how depleted the battery is. If the battery retains only 10% of maximum charge, ie it will drive for an additional  27 miles, the Tesla 250 kw Superchargers add about 1,000 miles in one hour. But if the battery is already charged to >80%, topping-off will only add 150-200 miles in one hour.

If you put your destination into the Tesla map, it will tell you where to stop charging. As the battery charges more quickly when the battery is nearly depleted, Tesla calculates your charging stations so you arrive at the Supercharging station with a battery that is nearly depleted to a capacity of 5-20%, and the Tesla advises you how long to charge so you get to the next Supercharging station with a nearly empty battery-thus you need not charge to 100% at every Supercharging station. Thus reduces traveling time.

I have found that I’m not particularly comfortable arriving at a Supercharging Station with only 5% battery reserve, which would be about 15 miles. 

In my experience, the Tesla predictions of battery usage is very accurate, assuming nothing untoward happens, like a road is unexpectedly closed or it’s extremely cold ( batteries are less efficient in the cold) or I get lost and have to do more miles than planned or a Tesla Superstation is closed (very rare.)

If it looks like I will not have sufficient charge to get to the next Superstation, my Tesla will tell me to limit driving speed to  < 75 mph or <70 mph, as this will extend driving distance. The amount of power used to propel the car is proportional to the car’s velocity cubed (v**3). Thus minor reductions in speed can greatly reduce the car’s power consumption and extend your mileage

On one occasion, the car told me to limit my speed to 75 mph so as to ensure I would to the next Supercharging station. The advise easily worked.

While there is a little bit of range anxiety driving an electric car cross country, if I follow the Tesla’s recommendations, and do not get lost or drive too fast, I will certainly get to the next Tesla Supercharging station.

And of course I could use a non-Tesla charging station or, as a last resort, I could plug the car into a 120 V outlet somewhere along the way.

So if I was to buy another EV for long distance driving, I would want one with a battery range of >350 or 400 miles.

The Tesla “Full Self-Driving” Autopilot mode definitely makes long distance driving less fatiguing. In this mode, the car will make lane changes, take highway exits, recognize stop signs, traffic lights, pedestrians, negotiate turns, etc. But, you still need to turn the steering wheel every 30 seconds and if your eye drift to your cell-phone, you will be disciplined.

So that’s the story of using a Tesla on a long distance road trip.

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Day 12, Sunday 8/25/24

Miles traveled:  <3 miles

States: Arizona 

Title: The Majestic Grand Canyon

 

10 AM

I slept last night in the Yavapai Lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park, after a delightful hot shower.

I woke at 5 AM and forced myself to get out of bed to watch the sunrise with the dogs. All my instincts told me to remain in bed, but my intellect said “you’re never coming back to this place, this is your last chance.”

Needless to say, I’m very happy that I forced myself to get out of bed. And the dogs were very happy to get a much needed walk. 

Initially, I thought I was all alone watching the sunrise at the Rim Trail, but ultimately, I saw, off in the distance, sitting on other buttresses sticking out from the Rim Trail, people also waiting for the sunrise. Ultimately, a gentleman sat down near me who was from New Zealand. He told me that he has already done the entire Appalachian Trail!

At sunrise, the ambience on the Rim Trail of the Grand Canyon was one of serenity, majesty, and expectant grandeur. Initially, it was mostly silent, save for the wind. Then, as the sun came up, the birds began to chirp. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Two hours after sunrise, we bushwhacked back to our cabin using Apple’s iPhone map to guide me. Although a lot of people get lost in the Grand Canyon National Park and has the highest mortality rate of all parks, I knew that the area I was bushwhacking through was bounded on by roads on all sides, the terrain was tame, and this island of wilderness was certainly < 0.5 miles in diameter, so I wasn’t too worried.

Noon

I decided to go back to the Rim Trail (after a nap) and situated myself on the ground, adjacent to Rim Trail, and overlooking the south rim of Grand Canyon. With iPad in hand, I was going to sit and observe and write whatever came into my head. The dogs were tied up behind me and had water; I think they’re wondering why we are not moving. 

Written Musings

I am at an elevation of 7000 feet and the river is at 2400 feet, a drop of 0.8 miles. Apparently, at this position, the Grand Canyon is about 10 miles wide.  At its deepest, the Grand Canyon is about 6000 feet deep.

The Grand Canyon, which is 5-6 million years old (Homo sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years), is not the deepest canyon in US. That honor goes to Hell’s Canyon on the border of Oregon and Idaho that is 8,000 feet deep. There is a canyon in China that might be 17,000 feet deep.

I like watching the shadows of the clouds glide silently across the Grand Canyon. The only natural noises are the occasional bird and the wind.

The more I observe, the more I see. 

About halfway down the canyon, below me, is a butte. There is trail on the butte leading to a precipice, on which sit a group of people.

Below them is a small, serpiginous valley cut into the side of the butte, filled with greenery, which would imply that it gets more water than the rest of the area. 

Way below, at the bottom, I can see the muddy Colorado River, but only very small sections of it. I can’t determine if the flow is fast or slow.

I see many tributaries that feed into the Colorado river. Some are very shallow valleys carved into a butte. Others are deep chasms, line with greenery, suggesting actively flowing water.

There is a rock formation to my right, just below me, which is orange, in distinction to most of the other rock formations which are beige or red. I assume the red indicates iron, but I’ll learn whether that’s true in the geology talk I’m going to go to in about an hour.

At the top of the Grand Canyon are three layers of rock, which are mostly white or beige, and then below that are many striations of red rock.

5 PM

The 3 PM geology talk was interesting. In brief, the subduction of the Pacific tectonic plate underneath the North American tectonic plate raised a plateau and while simultaneously crinkling the North American plate and creating the Rocky Mountains. Ultimately the Colorado River, which drops 1200 feet over its length, had enough power (potential energy) to erode this uplifted plateau down to the bedrock. The canyon is no longer getting deeper, but it is getting wider, as its sides are eroded away (especially on the north side) so that in 5 million years, it will be a plateau again. 

I intend to join the astronomy talk this evening.

9 PM

I was unable to find the astronomy talk, and I was not the only one who was walking around in circles.

This sky was quite spectacular, and found a reasonable dark corner in a parking lot and took these pictures with my iPhone 15 Pro Max while resting the iPhone on the car for between 3 and 10 seconds. Click on image to enlarge it.

Milky Way galaxy over the Grand Canyon
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Day 11, Saturday 8/24/24

Miles traveled:  629 miles

States: California, Arizona 

Title: A huge gash in the earth

I slept in truck stop last night in Bakersfield, CA which was fine. I think I got 5 hours of sleep, as I worked on yesterday’s On the Road essay until midnight.

It is now 5:30 AM and the dogs have been fed and watered and I haveI brushed my teeth. It is time to get on down the road to the next charging station, which is only about an hour drive. Hopefully I will be able to get a coffee.

I stopped to charge and had breakfast at an IHOP. I can’t remember when I last ate at an IHOP. Even though I ordered the small pancake order, three pancakes, it was way too much.

At about 3 PM, I crossed from California into Arizona and then drove through the Mojave desert. The temperature was about 100°.

After the desert, I have been climbing in elevation. The area is more green, much less dry and a lot cooler. 

While driving today I finished Nancy Pelosi‘s book, The Art of Power. I read the first half of the book and then got bored as she was repeatedly talking about a series of national and international events which required the house to do something. After the second or third episode, it all seem pretty much the same so I put the book down. Today I decided to read the last few chapters as I thought there might be something different and in fact at the end of the book, she talks in great detail about what happened on January 6 and subsequently. She makes it very clear that Donald Trump is a deplorable person, and worse. She also makes it very clear that they’re a very few with honorable Republicans anymore. She did have praise for Mike Pence, and how he handled the events of January 6, but pretty much all the other Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, have demonstrated a willingness to kiss Trump’s ass. 

I am impressed with Nancy Pelosi. I believe that she has a high moral character, a clear set of priorities for the US government (her first three political priorities are: “the children, the children, the children”) and she is able to work across the aisle, if the other side wants to work with her.

At about 6 PM I arrived at the Grand Canyon visitor center and got my room. Having not eaten anything substantial all day, immediately had dinner and then fed the dogs and around 7:30 PM, as the sun was starting to set, we walked from our cabin toward the Grand Canyon. (It turns out that you can have dogs on the Grand Canyon’s Rim trail.)

We hiked the mile from the cabin to the scenic vista, arriving just after sunset, as it was getting dark.

The walk back was a little bit harrowing. We are walking under a canopy of tree trees, which made it very dark, trying to follow an asphalt trail. Rocket seemed pretty good about showing me the way. I tried to use my iPhone as a flashlight, but I was afraid I was going to run out of batteries. We periodically would stop and wait for a car to pass as the cars headlights sometimes would show us the way. Anyway, we did get back to our cottage, but the return trip was more stressful than it should’ve been. (I don’t think I could’ve gotten too lost, as there was a road nearby.)

Tomorrow morning, the dogs and I will hike the Rim trail.

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Day 10, Friday 8/23/24

Miles traveled:  (only) 263 miles

States: California

Title: On the road again

 

Calder called me 7:30 AM to inform me that he tested positive for Covid and is not asymptomatic.

It is not clear what Gail and I should do, as we both came a long way to celebrate our granddaughter’s first birthday. 

I am a little bit paranoid about getting sick in the middle of my trip home, that could be a fiasco.

I’m not too worried about a “cold” aspect of Covid, but I am worried about long Covid, as I have already (?permanently) lost my sense of smell (anosmia) and a lot of my sense of taste (aguesia) as a result of a covid infection in early 2020.

In 2022, 7% of adults have reported having had long Covid at some point in the past and 25% of those stated that long covid had resulted in significant limitations in their daily activities. Approximately 10-30% of covid infections develop long covid (symptoms >3 months.)

In the late morning, Gail and I ultimately decided we would celebrate our granddaughter’s first birthday outside in their backyard. Then Gail will leave and take a 9 PM flight to Boston and I will continue my cross country sojourn.

That is precisely how the day evolved: and our granddaughter got her first taste of sugar in the form of a birthday cupcake, which she partially fed to me. 

All in all, the family time worked out as well as we could have hoped, given covid.

Gail and I left Napa, CA at 5 PM and I drove her to  San Francisco airport. Dropped her off at about 6:30 PM and then drove for until 11 PM, 263 miles. I am now in a truck stop for the night.

Tomorrow I will complete the final 587 miles with the hope of arriving at the south rim of the Grand Canyon Village before sunset. Maybe I will get to see the Grand Canyon under a new full moon! And maybe I’ll stay there an extra day to revel in the majesty of the scenery.

So far it’s been a great trip, although it did not roll-out as planned. I guess that is the definition of  an adventure: you layout your plans and then accept whatever comes your way.

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Day 9, Thursday, 8/22/24
States: California 
Title: The Napa House

Miles Traveled: 22 miles

 

Gail and I arrived at Calder and Gaby’s house at 8:30 AM.

Because of Covid, Gaby will wear a mask for another day but she is afebrile and ansymptomatic.

The dogs (Mason, Rocket, Harper) are getting along just fine.

Gail is enjoying her time with our granddaughter.

I have unloaded the paintings from the car

I spent most of the time today updating this diary. It is now time to focus on everyone else.

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Day 8, Wednesday, 8/21/24
States: Nevada, California 
Title: The Final Push to the West Coast
Miles Traveled: 335 miles

5AM

I got about four hours sleep overnight in the Nevada truck stop. It is time to get on the road again.

It occurred to me while I was driving that both Gail and I started today’s travel at about the same time. Gail (leaving Boston) will travel about 3,000 miles and travel at a speed of about 500 mph. I (leaving the truck stop in Neveda) will travel today about 300 miles at 50 mph. Thus, we will both arrive in San Francisco, about 6 hours after our departures, and at approximately the same time. My goal is to get to Sierra and Chris’ apartment before Gail and surprise her.

While driving, and when I am not doing “intellectual” work, I generally need two “stimuli” to keep me entertained. While I’m driving (or cycling),  I listen to an audiobook or music and enjoy the scenery. Visually, the geology of both Iowa and Nebraska is absolutely flat and mostly farmland. Nevada starts flat and is extremely dry. There were some hills in the western end of my Nevada drive. I do not enjoy (appreciate) the Iowa, Nebraska topology. I like hills and mountains.

The other thing I noticed while driving cross country is the faster speed limit of 75 or 80 mph. Not frequently I found that I was driving at up to 80 mph but never above that limit-80 was fast enough for me.

8 AM

I’ve been listening to the Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson. I’ve written about this translation before. According to Emily Wilson, it is highly unlikely that Homer is the sole author for the entire text, for many reasons. 

Her translation is design to be consumed by a contemporary audience who have contemporary sensibilities.

According to Prof. Wilson, it is not possible to translate an ancient text with absolute fealty to the original, as cultural understandings, language and mores change. Complicating the task for the Iliad and the Odyssey is the fact that the language used in those ancient text wasn’t the language used by the ancient Greeks (actually the Greeks weren’t even a nation at that time).

The poem first appeared about 800-900 BCE. The most famous english translation did not occur until the 17th century, and that has been considered the definitive translation, but it is flawed (i.e. not an exact replica) from many reasons. And not solely because the (male) author imbued the translation with his own cultural biases.

Emily Wilson is fully candid about her translation philosophy, and potential criticisms that her translation is not “faithful“ to the original are dealt with in her preface.

Her preference is quite long, about 2+ hours and there is also a short, second preference that is about a half hour. 

He translation philosophy was to create a version that is comprehensible to contemporary audiences while retaining the story and values of the original.

I absolutely love this translation. It’s eminently understandable and entertaining. Having it read to me (audiobook) is exactly the way the story was intended to be consumed by the audience at the time the story was created.

While listening to the story, there are times I felt choked up, and I definitely understand more nuances on this second time through the story.  For example, I’ve learned that “regifting” dates back to (at least) the Greeks. In the Odyssey a king regifted a pure silver chalice with gold trim that he had received from another king, which was made by famous master craftsman, to Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. So regifting is a long established tradition.

The story is also the ultimate adventure, fantasy story, mixing in all facets of human behavior with a healthy dose of fantasy, as the deathless god’s actions in the story are equally prominent to the role of the human characters. 

At the end of Emily Wilson’s final preface she reads this quote:

I am not 100% certain of it’s origins.

There is a stranger outside your house. He is old, ragged and dirty. He is tired. He has been wandering homeless for a long time, perhaps many years. Invite him inside. You do not know his name. He may be a thief. He may be a murderer. He may be a god. He may remind you of your husband, your father, or yourself. Do not ask questions, wait, let him sit on a comfortable chair and warm himself beside your fire. Bring him some food, the best you have, and a cup of wine. Let him eat and drink until he is satisfied. Be patient. When he is finished, he will tell his story. Listen carefully. It may not be as you expect.

While listening to the story, it was apparent that the Greeks’ relationship to their gods was precisely the same as people in contemporary western society who espouse a belief in a monotheistic deity. When bad (or good) things happen to Greeks, they attribute the events to the gods. People whose travel by ship is impeded by weather attribute the bad storm to a failure by the travelers to pay homage to Poseidon, or Zeus, or one of the other gods. 

Clearly. most Homo sapiens believe they are entitled to (?deserve) an explanation as to why things happen, be it bad circumstances, beneficial outcomes, or death. Most people are unwilling to believe: “maybe, in the future, science will be able to provide a scientific explanation as to why that happened” or simply accept that “shit happens.”

This is why, in my opinion, Homo sapiens have created the concept of god, and in various forms, and in ?all cultures, throughout the history of Homo sapiens. And, of course, every culture believes that their political opponents’ gods and their own antecedent cultures’ gods were false gods; while only their god is the real deal. How irrational and sad.

I see no rational reason to invoke the existence of a deity for too many reason to innumerate here.

11 AM

I arrived at Sierra and Chris’s SF apartment 15 minutes before Gail. The two room apartment was a bit of a zoo with four dogs, but they all got along well with each other. Sierra Gail and I went to Golden Gate Park tea room, and had Japanese style tea, then we took the dogs to a spectacular dog park, which overlooks the San Francisco Bay. We then had dinner at an outdoor café, after which Gail and I got in the car and drove to Calder’s in Napa.

8 PM

We arrived at our Napa hotel.

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Day 7, Tuesday, 8/20/24
States: Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada 
Title: And after two days of rest, God said it was good, but it’s now time to move on

Miles traveled: 670 miles

Slept in Reno, NV

 

8:30 AM

Last night the dogs woke me up at 3 AM, again. Actually it’s Mason who starts walking around. I decided to take them out for a walk and when we got outside I looked up and saw there were no clouds in the sky so, despite desperately wanting to crawl back into bed, and told myself this is going to be my last chance to see a night sky in the Tetons for who knows how long. So, with my iPhone in my pocket hone I walk to the backside of the hotel. Nobody was awake.

There were much fewer clouds in the sky than in the prior night so it wasn’t as pretty but it was still worth the  3 AM walk…

And this is what I saw at 8:30 AM just before we drive away from the Tetons…

Yesterday evening I received a call from Calder that Gaby has tested positive for Covid and Josie has a cold. Apparently there’s a Covid outbreak in her daycare. We’re still coming, but maybe we’ll stay elsewhere. 

5PM

I left Wyoming, went through part of Idaho and am now in Nevada.  I’m hoping to make it to the west of Reno tonight.

10 PM

I have pulled into a truck stop in Nevada, 290 miles away from San Francisco, but east of Reno.

I’ve now driven about 670 miles today in about 13 hours.

I’m going to sleep until maybe 6 AM and then finish up the trip which will take only about six hours.

Gail is supposed to arrive tomorrow at Sierra‘s place around noon. Maybe I could get there before her and surprise her.

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Day 6, Monday, 8/19/24
States: Wyoming 

Title:  A Day of Rest at My Happy Place

Miles traveled: local driving, 20 miles

Slept in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

 

6 AM

Last night after I returned from dinner, I took the dogs for a walk. We promptly returned to my cabin because it had begun to rain, when Mason had an episode of diarrhea. He tried to warn me but I did not understand him. He was very embarrassed by the episode.

I thought we were past his gastrointestinal problem, as his constipation had resolved and his stools were normal. I assume his diarrhea was a result of my treatment of his constipation (diluted milk, a new dog food that I drizzled with olive oil, and more walks.) I am going to limit him to water until his stools are again normal. He is not going to like that.

At 4 AM Rocket informed me he needed to use the facilities.  After he relieved himself, the three of us went for a walk under a full moon. We had the venue to ourselves.

It was a spectacular walk, during which time I regretted that I had not pocketed my camera phone before we left the cabin.

It looked like an Ansel Adam’s scene, which kept reeling me in, calling me to move ever deeper into the darkness of the wilderness and away from the light and security of civilization.

A full moon hung suspended above the mountains; the moon, intermittently, but only partially, obscured by a small, thin silver, white, and gray cloud. When a cloud summoned the courage to take center stage and slide in front of the moon, the cloud would glow, most brightly around its perimeter. When no cloud was the center of attention, all the clouds hummed a silent chorus of silver, white, and gray, during which time the moonlight bounced off the lake, making the lake sparkle as if it were a puddle of a million twinkling stars. Always, the moonlight bathed the mountains, majestic, massive, and silent, in yellow sunlight that had been transformed into a silver-white wash. And the sky tweaked the scene, like an insistent director, by spritzing the mountains with a dollop of night-sky blue.

It was a silent orchestra of light, conducted by the moon, funded by the sun, with the mountains as the featured performer and the clouds, sky, and the lake in asupporting roles; all performing a silent ballet that has played almost nightly for millennia.

It is was the first time I had seen this performance, which was put on for me alone, excepting for all the animals that neither I nor my dogs heard or saw; and they have seen this production, and its many revivals, so many time before.

I loved the show. And maybe, not having my camera made it possible for me to appreciate nuances of the performance which would have otherwise been unseen. After all, nobody brings a camera to the ballet.

5 PM

It was my intention to get up early this morning a take the dogs for an 5-8 mile hike. I failed miserably at that task. When I finally got out of bed at 7:30 AM, I did not have the enthusiasm and energy I thought I would have to hike in my happy place. (The Teton’s is my happy place.)

Maybe I’m just burnt out from the drive.

I think it was much more likely that when I took the dogs out at today at 3 AM, and then that evolved into a walk, and then that became an essay, which I obviously had to write at 4 AM, and it took at two hours to write, rewrite and then post the essay. Well, obviously I didn’t get many hours of uninterrupted sleep.

When I finally roll out of bed I went to the Jackson Lake Lodge visitor station, hoping to learn that there was a hike nearby that I could do with the dogs. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Dogs are not allowed to hike in the national parks. Period. End of story.

They suggested I hike in the Bridger-Teton National Forest or Caribou-Targhee National Forest, but they were not too knowledgeable about a specific dog-friendly hike.

Unfortunately, hiking in those locations was going to entail a bit of driving, which I certainly was not up for. I drove into Jackson, Wyoming ostensibly to get another opinion about where to hike with the dogs and, while I was there I loaded up the car with more electrons. If you have an EV while traveling, I’ve learned, you can never have too many electrons in the tank. The store that I visited didn’t have any hiking suggestion other than the aforementioned locations and, again, I was not willing to make a two hour drive.

So I headed back to the Jackson Lake Lodge, my “classic cottage” and on the way, stopped at a scenic vista and took pictures of me with my favorite backdrop, and then, for kicks pictures of Rocket and Mason with the same backdrop.

 

We got back in the car and soon came upon a large herd of buffalo that were crossing the road. Nobody stopped to ask the buffalo why they cross the road. You just let them cross.

This was so cool. I got out of the car to take some photographs, always making sure that I kept at least 30 yards between me and the buffalo. Some of the herd had already crossed the road, but the majority of the herd had yet to cross the road. I took more stills than necessary, I will delete most of these, and one video which you can see here.

Now we’re back in our room, the dogs are laying down for a nap and maybe I’ll do the same. Or maybe I’ll walk over to the lodge and get something to eat, I really didn’t have any breakfast or lunch today.

Today I have been expectantly watching to see what was going to happen with Mason‘s bowels. He has still not defecated today ( it’s 5 PM) and, as I said, I’m not going to feed him until his stools are normal. Maybe I’ll give him a little bit of food but not his usual portion size.

My tentative plan for tomorrow is to get out early. The drive from here to Napa California is only about 970 miles and I certainly can do this in two days, arriving on the 21st but maybe I’ll stretch it out to three and arrive on the 22nd. Either would be fine.i will be traveling through Elmo, NV, Reno, NV, Sacramento, CA

10 PM

After a very pleasant dinner in the dining room, the dogs and I walked to the back of the lodge to watch the sun set behind the Tetons. The dogs are natural magnet for people and starting conversations, when you have two dogs, is quite easy. I had several conversations with retired people who are on a tour of the national parks. One couple is from Florida and we talked about how people are segregated into tribes because our brains developed at a time when being exiled from your tribe was a death sentence; thus our brains learned to accept the opinion of our tribe as “fact” as this would ensured we would remain, alive within our tribe, and be able to procreate and pass on our DNA. Another couple was from Texas, but in their hearts, they still identified Boston as their home. That conversations centered around applying Bayes Theorem to criminology.

Of course the sunset was beautiful.

 

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Day 5, Sunday, 8/18/24

States:  Nebraska, Wyoming

Title: Arrived at my happy place

Miles Traveled: 680 mile

Slept in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

6:30 AM

Last night I slept in a Nebraska truck stop. I got nearly 7 hours of interrupted sleep. It’s now 6:30 AM and I’m about to get on the road. I have enough charge to last about 200 miles and hope the fist charging station will have coffee. I do not know how far I will go today.

7:24 AM

Recharged the car to 244 miles and got a large cup of coffee. I’m my next Supercharging station will be Laramie, Wyoming.

10 AM

I made it to Wyoming! I so much prefer the state of Wyoming to Nebraska and Iowa. I found that the Iowa-Nebraska geology incredibly boring, perfectly flat with no redeeming geologic value. Although I am only 70 miles into Wyoming, I have seen two antelopes, an osprey and, snow capped mountains.

I introduced myself to a couple who was their Tesla as I recognized their are two dogs from a prior Tesla Supercharging station. They’re on their way from Chicago to the coast of Oregon to do some camping along the Oregon coast, with their mixed-rat terrier and their full-sized Aussie.

8 PM

When I was in Laramie, I realized the Tetons were only 260 miles / 5 hours worth of driving time northwest. As I am certain I can get to Napa in 3 (maybe 2) days driving, I decided to make a detour to my happy place.

Ultimately, I covered 680 miles in 12 hours, arriving in Grand Teton National Park at about 6 PM. I am staying in a “classic cottage” as I need a shower and some civilization). the “cottage” is clearly more than adequate and has 2 double beds. Check is 11 AM, but maybe I can get a late check-out as they are not 100% full. 

I don’t think I’m going to do any hiking, just sitting in the back looking at the mountains.The weather tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful.

At dinner tonight the sunset, and from the dining room, we could see a lightning storm behind the Tetons. I shot video of it for 30 minutes and then isolated these few shots of bolts of lightning lighting up the Tetons:

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Day 4, Saturday, 8/17/24
States: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska  

Title:  The Flat Middle

Miles traveled: 796 mile

Slept in Sutherland, NE

While crossing through Iowa, I stopped at Gail’s sister’s house, where I got a much needed shower, while she and her daughter took my dogs for a walk. Then I quickly got back on the road, again.

I just crossed from Iowa to Nebraska. There are no windmills in Nebraska but plenty of them in Iowa. Iowa gets 62% of its electricity from wind power, the highest percent wind power of all states.

Today I left western Indiana at 5 AM and ended in Nebraska at 10 PM, 796 miles down the road. 

I charged before my final stop and I will sleep in the car in “camp mode” tonight.

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Day 3, Friday, 8/16/24
States: Ohio, Indiana

Title:  Stuck in a Cleveland suburb, waiting. Then on the road again.

Miles traveled: 321 miles

Slept in Gary, IN

 

11 AM

My Thursday night stay at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Cleveland-Beachwood (Ohio) was very comfortable. I am now on my way back to the Tesla Service garage ( Friday, 11 AM) and I noticed my anxiety level rising yet again.

While at the Tesla service station I am told that they’ve installed the new part in the rear engine (induction converter) and all they have to do is reassemble the car and I can be on my way.

I’m not quite sure why the anxiety has returned; it will be interesting to see if it resolves once I get on the road.

I am told the car will be ready by 5 PM. So I will not be able to drive to S’s house tonight as that would be an 11 hour drive. I think I will drive to Davenport, IA, stay overnight and then drive to S’s tomorrow, see the Iowa State Fair, then leave early the following morning.

5 PM

I left Tesla Service at 5PM Friday. I think the Tesla service center and the mechanics profusely. This could’ve been so much worse. Had they not been able to take me in quickly, I would’ve been stuck in suburban Cleveland for a total of four days.

I think the Tesla service center and the mechanics profusely. This could’ve been so much worse. Had they not been able to take me in quickly, I would’ve been stuck in suburban Cleveland for a total of four days.

Have no idea how far I will drive tonight our where I will stay. 

8:30 PM

I just crossed from Ohio and Indiana. I plan to drive another 150 miles to the next charging station in Munster Indiana. I plan to sleep in the car. I doubt they’ll be a bathroom truck maybe some food, try to get four or five hours sleep and then get back on the road. Hopefully this will get me back on schedule. Ohio is very flat, it’s not bad. It’s not beautiful lots of agriculture, other Greek stuff, but not in my opinion.

10 PM 

I left Tesla Service at 5 PM ET. It is now 10 PM CT and I’m at the last service stop on I-80 in Indiana, near Gary, almost in Illinois. I did about 321 miles in 5 hours. I have recharged the car, walked the dogs, had 2 bananas and a Dove Bar and will try to get 4-5 hours sleep in the car. The Tesla has “camping mode” specifically for this purpose and will keep the car at the set temperature. The dogs are curled up in the back and the 7/11 store at this service station is open 24/7 and has a bathroom and more food. I will again charge in the morning and I should get to Sarah‘s house (~350 miles) after about 7 hours driving (With all my stops, I average ~50 mph. )

Mason appears constipated. We gradually switched his food from his foster parent’s food to Rocket’s food which is a drier food and caused Rocket’s stools to dry-out. I’m trying to get him to drink water and this evening I took him for a long walk. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get him some canned pumpkin and olive or coconut oil.

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Day 2, Thursday, 8/15/24

States: New York, Pennsylvania, Cleveland Ohio

Title:  A Real Problem

Miles traveled: maybe 200 miles

Slept in Lyndburg, OH

 

I stayed overnight last night, in S and E‘s spectacular house.

I’ve decided I’ll drive today to Joliet, Illinois today, stay there overnight, and then drive to S‘s house in Iowa and visit the Iowa State Fair.

I left Stirling‘s house about 7 AM. I just entered Pennsylvania from New York at the western southern border of New York. Looking to recharge this morning in about 90 minutes, with some electrons and caffeine. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful driving day.

Morning mist obscuring the opposite side of the lake

10 AM

After I finished charging both the car (supercharger) and me (Starbucks) this morning, while settling into the long drive, I received an error message on my car. 

I saw this error message yesterday and it disappeared after I rebooted the car so I discounted it. I couldn’t discount it a second time.

I called Tesla road service and after a wait of what seem like 15 or 20 minutes I got to a live person. I explained my situation and he looked up the diagnostics of my car, (Tesla can see all the data about my car in real time.) 

Based on the error message, I suggested that maybe the 12 V battery needs to be replaced. I had just learned yesterday, after talking with Eric, that Tesla has a 12 V battery that typically last 3 to 5 years; my car was purchased in 2018. 

The Tesla service person thought that maybe it also be the battery and told me there was a Tesla dealer about 15 miles from me. He scheduled me an appointment at that dealer in Lyndhurst, OH, that was scheduled to occur in about three weeks, but also labeled it as “Priority.”

I drove to the Tesla dealer and much to my surprise, within 15 minutes of stopping, they took the car in to the garage to do the diagnostics. The dogs and I are sitting in an air-conditioned waiting room, and we shall see what happens.

Right now, I’m feeling a bit anxious. And I’m not sure why. Regardless of the financial expense, I will be able to afford it. Regardless of the time delay, I am retired and I can afford it. In the worst case scenario I will miss Josie‘s first birthday party. Or maybe I will have to leave the car here and then fly back at a later date to get it.  But I am safe. 

I can’t explain why I feel anxious, but I do.

7 PM

While I am staying in the Homewood Suites by Hilton Cleveland-Beachwood (Ohio)  waiting for my car, I decided to go across the street and pick up some takeout dinner at the Viking Lizard Tavern. I am now about 11 miles southeast of Cleveland. The bar is hopping.

I should mention that the anxiety that I was experiencing prior to depositing my car in the garage has abated by this time.

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Day 1 of Road Trip, Wednesday, 8/14/2024

States: Massachusetts, New York

Title:  I Begin On A Mostly A Well Worn Path

Miles traveled: 625 miles

Slept in Mayville, NY

 

I left the house this morning at 6:40 AM with 55,070 miles on the odometer. Within a half mile I stopped three times by the side of the road trying to configure the car so as to optimize ride. We (me and Rocket and Mason) are off.

Our (me and the dogs) first stop will be in Syracuse to charge and then drive to Niagara Falls for a quick sightsee and then to S and E’s house in Mayville, NY (60 minutes south of Buffalo). The dogs are settled in the back, each has a bone, but nobody’s touched it yet and they’re wondering what’s going on. 

 

8 AM

I just saw police car pull over somebody who was speeding, and I see another police car speeding down the road.

It seems that this method of dispensing speeding tickets is highly inefficient. It would be more efficient if the state use the tolls’ location-timestamp to automatically issue speeding tickets to only the fastest 2-3% of drivers. That would leave the police free to do other more important things while simultaneously increasing state revenue and decrease the cost of issuing speeding tickets by 2-3 orders of magnitude. This would be a win all around..

 

My Process

I should explain that I sometimes dictate my thoughts into my phone while driving. I have one earbud in my ear and I’m using the iPhone’s journaling app. I don’t need to look at the phone during the process and I feel comfortable taking my eyes off the road for 2-3 seconds as the Tesla autodrive works well on the highway. Sometimes I dictate at rest stops.

 

First Recharging

We are in Rotterdam, New York for charging. The dog slept most of the way. I’m listening to an audiobook about two guys who are hiking the length of the Grand Canyon (A Walk in the Park, Kevin Fedarko). At the beginning of the book they made it very clear that they think they are in way over their head. I hope this is not an omen for the rest of my trip.

Now I need to get the dogs some water.

The amount of time I spent getting food and water, giving the dogs water, walking the dogs and going to the bathroom exceeded the amount of time that took the charge the car to get to the next stop. All is good.

 

Second charging station

All is still going well. In Syracuse now charging.

 

A Scary Moment

I was charging the car and everything was going well, but it was charging relatively slowly. I was wondering if it could be charging relatively slowly, adding only 250 miles in one hour because three other vehicles were sharing this 250 kW charger with me. I decided to move to an another charging position that had no vehicles and when I plugged it in to my car, I got an error message on my car that said the car needs service immediately and electrical system may not restart.

I was a little bit panicked so I rebooted the car, the message went away, everything is fine, I moved back to the original charging port and finished the last five minutes of charging and I’m on my way. I did see another vehicle use the “bad” charging port as I left so I began to wonder if the problem was my car or the charging station.

 

My Error

I was driving to Niagara Falls, and I saw that there was a Tesla supercharger station close to the Niagara Falls which I could reach so I decided to go north, and bypass the supercharging station I had originally intended to stop at.

As I was getting close to Niagara Falls supercharging station, I suddenly saw a road  sign that said “Last exit in the United States” Yikes!

I neglected to notice that the Niagara Falls supercharging station was on the Canadian side of the border so I turned around and backtracked 26 miles south to the prior supercharging station.

According to my Tesla, the car would run-out of electrons in 32 miles so I would arrive at the charging station with 6 miles in reserve. Even though I knew from experience that the Tesla’s prediction of the remaining mileage was highly accurate, it was not a particularly comfortable ride. But I made it with 6 miles remaining on the Tesla battery.

After I recharged, I then drove back north to Niagara Falls, so I ended up adding 52 miles to the trip.

Niagara Falls was pretty and it wasn’t crowded at 6:30 PM. I didn’t see signs that explained the geology or how much power was generated by the falls, so that was disappointing; however, I was dealing with two dogs who had been in the car for hours and people wanted to talk to or pet the dogs, so maybe I missed the signage. It would be nice to understand why the terrain suddenly dropped-off at this particular location and how much power was generated and whether all the wires emanating from the falls were  subject to lightning strikes.

I only have about  26 miles until I reach tonight’s destination, S & E‘s house in Mayville, NY.I’m looking forward to just decompressing and then going to sleep.

I’m in bed now. All is good.

I left at this morning at about 7 AM and arrived at my destination at 9 PM – 625 miles. 52 of those miles were unnecessary, as I screwed up. I think I charged 4 times. The last charge wasn’t necessary, and was done about 20 miles from my E & S’s house but I was spooked and wanted to add some extra miles in preparation for tomorrow, but I know that it was (intellectually) unnecessary.

 

The above is the BEGINNING OF On the Road: Boston to San Francisco to Boston. The entries appear in reverse chronologic order.

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August 13, 2024:

Tomorrow at 6:30 AM I leave for cross country solo drive, with the intention of arriving in Napa California on August 24 in time for my granddaughter’s first birthday, while transporting my two dogs and some of Gail’s paintings and my frames that we are giving to the kids.

I will use the trip to see sites along the way and for some introspection.

My first stop will be in Niagara Falls to see view the falls.

I am then going to drive about 1.5 hours south and I will stay with Gail’s sister and brother-in-law S & E, who we just visited about two weeks ago when we stayed with them and attended the Chautauqua Institute.

From there, I my plan is to drive to Iowa to visit another one of Gail sisters in Iowa, S. While there, I hope to attend the Iowa State Fair, at least briefly.

It is my plan to drive 8 to 12 hour a day. Using the Tesla’s “autodrive” mode on the highway makes long distance driving much less stressful and more relaxing. Autodrive is a misnomer. While the car will steer, change lanes, accelerate, decelerate, get off at the appropriate exit, as needed, you have to physically touch the steering wheel about every 30 seconds. And if your eyes drift to the cell phone in your hand, the car will let you know that it’s not acceptable and it will automatically shut itself off if you do not put down the phone immediately.

People who drove a Tesla cross country in autodrive have concurred that it make long distance driving much more pleasurable.

I intend to listen to music and audiobooks. Maybe I will finish my current audiobook, A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko. Although I cannot tell you that this book has grabbed me, the author’s description of the Grand Canyon has convinced me that I need to see the Grand Canyon, at least from the south rim, on my way back from California. I am also hoping to again list to Homer’s Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson-it is a great story and a fantastic translation.

I intend to spend some time dictating my thoughts into my iPad, maybe to be added to this diary as a travel log – my version of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. 

This is an introspective adventure, with 2 dogs. In two weeks I will let you know if this road trip was a good decision.

I have a hard deadline when I need to be back, which is September 5th, as I need to prepare for my second “Designing Your Retirement” lecture to the MIT Club of Boston on September 7. It is “sold-out”!

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August 10, 2024:

See my personal essay: On My Failure to Acquire Meaningful Social Relationships

Next week, I am planning to begin my solo drive to Napa, CA so as to attend my granddaughter’s first birthday party. And I am bringing both dogs. I expect the drive will take 8 days and hope to see some sights and make this an “introspective adventure.” I am simultaneously a bit apprehensive and looking forward to the drive. I intend to blog about the trip and listen to a lot of audiobooks. I think I’m going to again listen to listen to the Emily Wilson’s fantastic translation of Homer’s The Odyssey as an audiobook. As both The Iliad and The Odyssey were poems (created ~900 BCE, first written down 2 centuries later, first translated into English in the 1500s) performed to an audience. As the original version of the story was intended to be transmitted orally, an audiobook format is, in my opinion, the preferred format for these ancient text. personally, I preferred the Odyssey of the Iliad.

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August 7, 2024:

Since my last entry:

Sierra visited and we went to Passims for “Dead to the Core.” Although the music was not as much fun as I had hoped, too folky and not enough rocking. it was a long-neglected  father-daughter bonding session.

I gave my Designing Your Retirement lecture at the Cambridge Senior Center, and posted a video of the talk which can be found here.

Gail and I visited M & S in Tyngsboro for a BBQ dinner. They have a lovely property with a spectacular stone porch that S designed and installed. It was a delightful evening.

Gail and I attended the opening of the exhibit “What Lies Beneath” at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston,

Gail’s Checkered Dress in the Bromfield Gallery

where her painting “Checkered Dress” was prominently displayed and for sale, along with my brass, hickory and wenge frame.

We drove to Chautauqua Institute in NY, staying with S & E at there magnificent lake front property. The Chautauqua Institute week’s events were centered around the effects of music on society. There were talks regarding music’s impact on the incarcerated, people who had medical and psychiatric disease, and more. It appears that medical science has only now begun to investigate some of the benefits of music, which are far beyond what I would have rationally expected. A lot of this was already known to me as I recently read Oliver Sachs’s book Musicophilia.

On August 4 we picked up Mason, a 10 year old Brittany from his foster home. Mason has a delightful personality, comma, friendly with other dogs and people, but not particularly well trained. He appears to know the command “come” but he doesn’t know sit or heel. I’ve been working with him on these commands, but it is very early in the process and he needs to get comfortable with us.

For the last three weeks, I have been intermittently working on my essay about loneliness in retirement and my attempt to create more male friends and increase the quality and quantity of meaningful social relationships. I just posted an early version of this essay on my blog which can be found here: On My Failure to Acquire Meaningful Social Relationships. I’m not yet sure if I’m going to inform my subscribers about this posting, and it will be interesting if I get any feedback on it.

Now I am getting ready for an ambling, solo-cross country drive with two dogs and assorted art works, timed to arrive in Napa so I cane attend my granddaughter’s first birthday party. Yes, I know this is a crazy idea, but I am thinking of it as an adventure and all real adventures have a tinge of “craziness”.

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July 21, 2024: Psilocybin, My First Experience.

7:30 AM

For quite some time now I have been hoping to have a mystical/hallucinogenic experience; I want to experience something that is completely outside of my realm of experiences. Today is the day. 

In creating my Designing Your Retirement syllabus, I came across a study which showed that hallucinogenics caused sections of the brain, which previously could not to exchange information, to start exchanging information. 

Psilocybin enables sections of the brain, that were isolated from each other, to exchange information.

And just this week, the New York Times had an article about another study which showed much the same. 

It is likely that hallucinogenic induced insights and creativity occur because areas of the brain, which normally do not communicate are now capable of exchanging information.

Since the late 60s, many artists, musicians, and Silicon Valley software developers have used hallucinogenics micro-dosing  as a means of increasing creativity and enabling them to solve problems that were previously could not solve.

I want to experience that type of novel creativity!

When I was in high school, 1969 – 1973, I was taught that LSD and the other hallucinogenic would “cause my genes to mutate and my children would have horrific congenital abnormalities.” So I stayed away from LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and all hallucinogenics.

About a year ago, I read Michael Pollan’s well-reference book, How to Change Your Mind in which he reviews the history and science of the various hallucinogenics.

While taking hallucinogenics may be associated with an increased risk of harm in patients who are taking psychiatric medicines, have severe heart disease, or poorly controlled blood pressure, when they are administered with appropriate attention to “set and setting,” they are reasonably safe.  “Set is the mind-set or expectation one brings to the experience, and setting is the environment in which it takes place.” How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan.

A large academic meta-analysis found:  “There were only nine serious adverse events for over 1000 administrations of psychedelic substances . . . There was an increased risk for elevated heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure for all dose range categories, as well as an increased risk of nausea during the acute phase. Other common side effects included headaches, anxiety, and decreased concentration or appetite. This meta-analysis demonstrates that psychedelics are well-tolerated, with a low risk of emerging serious adverse events in a controlled setting with appropriate inclusion criteria.” 

We now know that LSD and psilocybin activate the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2A) in nerves in the brain, which enables different sections of the brain to communicate. This may lead to the dissolution of the ego; which is when the boundaries between the self and the external world become blurred or disappear, leading to a loss of their sense of self, and a sense of unity or a profound sense of interconnectedness with the universe.

So today, under the supervision of my ever indulgent and loving wife, I am going to ingest a test dose of psilocybin, a cap and stem, and see what happens. If all goes well today, and I do not have a full mystical/hallucinogenic experience, I will try a higher dose next time.

I’m going to try to keep a real-journal for as long as I can. While it all may turn out to be gibberish, we shall see.

Text in italics was dictated after having ingested psilocybin. Text in [gray] was added after the effect of the psilocybin wore off, during the editing of this essay.

8:37 AM 

Ingested the above cap and stem (with blue on the ends) in a bread and peanut butter sandwich with water. 

a stem and a cap of psilocybin 

8:48 AM

Nothing yet. I am told it will take 30 minutes

8:58AM

In the bathroom, noticing that everything had a pink hue. I assumed it was the mushroom, then I look up at the light above the sink.

False alarm.

9 AM [I went for a walk with Gail on the Somerville Community Path.]

9:41 AM [While out on my walk with Gail I dictated the below. I gradually became eager to get back to the “safety” of my home.]

I got a sensation of slightly out of balance. No real visual effects yet.

9:45 AM [Now, I have returned home and am laying on the grass under the tree in my backyard.]

Definitely feeling the effects. A bit unsteady on my feet, a little bit of nausea, admiring, on our mile and a half walk, the bright blue sky, which has no clouds and the brilliant green [of the back-lit leaves]. Had a conversation with Gail who said lime green and candy. apple red are less sophisticated than forest green and Burgundy.

Was hoping to sit in the hammock, but the emotion and the nausea experiencing are, but it exacerbate the nausea. The nausea is very mild. [The hammock made the nausea worse.]

9:50

Was able to throw the ball and actually hit the fence without throwing it over the fence. I was impressed with myself.

10:06 AM

I’m lying on the ground looking up at the tree throwing the ball for Rocket [who brings it back and puts it in my hand – hoping I will again throw it] as I said, my senses seem more acute. My senses, auditory and visual, seem more acute, but visual senses seem perfectly normal.

I love that color lime green [of the leaves back-lit by the sun]. I think it should be called chloroplast green [for the sake of accuracy, it should be chlorophyll green]

Photo taken by me, laying on the ground, looking up at the catalpa and maple trees above our backyard.

10:13 [AM]

Watching the light move through the tree. [I was watch the sun on the leaves, as the sun moved across the sky and different sections of the tree moved into/out of direct sunlight.]

10:36 AM

Continue to lay in the grass hooking up at the catalpa tree in our backyard and through its branches, [and the branches of] the big maple in backyards that are behind our house. I can actually see through the canopy of the big maple, all the way to the sky. Watching the birds fly in and out. Before I saw a dragonfly and verify that with Gail so it was real. He flew off. But he just reappeared and then flew into maple. He was either sitting there waiting for the bug population to increase or napping. I have no idea. Rocket has gotten tired of playing fetch with the tennis ball that I found during our walk this morning.  

As I’ve been up since 4:30 AM, maybe earlier, I repeatedly want to be taken a nap but I was afraid that I would miss out on the experience so I’m not allowing myself to take a nap.

10:40 AM

Cloud just moved in. It was a blue sky before. The clouds are high in the sky. I think the they are cirrus clouds. Gail concurs.

11 AM: [I am still laying on the ground]

The neighborhood is pretty quiet, now. The sounds of children playing are now absent.

I hear a Bluejay. I saw him, or a friend or foe of his, a little while ago. I had seen some planes in the sky above our house, taking off from Logan airport, but I haven’t seen them in a while, so maybe the winds have shifted.

There are the sounds of a bit of traffic on Elm Street, but not much. 

[Listening to the sounds in my backyard:]

Occasionally, I hear the door of a neighbor [as they] come out [of their homes] or the sounds of the wind. Occasionally, a bird. But it’s pretty quiet.

I hear Gail out front, talking to a neighbor. Sounds like she’s enjoying the interaction. 

Another plane taking off from Logan. 

11:09 AM

I wonder if we can incorporate the “outdoors” into our third floor home renovation, [so that we] somehow bring nature into the house, in unique way? If we actually do the renovation. [Gail and I are not certain if we will do any renovations.]

I hear a dog barking out front near Gail. She continues to talk. Of course this [dog] triggers Rocket into barking.

So I guess for me, right now, although there are no visual or auditorial hallucinations. I’m just focusing on the way things are and watching my environment, the clouds, the trees, the [the ants on the] grass, and the birds, traffic [sounds], voices of neighbors around me. The sounds of Somerville.

Next time, I’ll use a higher dose. 

11:20 AM

Gail was talking to a neighbor out front and told him I was tripping in our backyard. He said “oh you’re on trip watch”.  It took me a little while to realize what he meant by the term “trip watch”.

11:23 AM.

Children sounds have returned; how delightful!

12:36 pm

I had some watermelon; of course that drove to the bathroom. Now, back on the grass under the tree looking up the sky. Cirrus clouds have been completely replaced by 50% cumulous cloud cover. Definitely a front move in.

I think my trip is mostly over.

As I said before, I wish it was a full blood hallucinogenic experience which it was not. Next time, maybe I’ll double the dose. But I have no regrets.

 

9 PM That’s it. Next time, a higher (?double) dose.

 

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July 5, 2024: The Wonderful Whoriskey Clan

It has been my wife’s family tradition to gather on July 4^th and again at Thanksgiving at one of the family homes in the Boston area.

On July 4^th we gather at the family’s summer “cottage” in Scituate, aptly named “REST-HAVEN.” Built in 1899, the house has since been owned by three generations of Whoriskeys since 1921.

REST-HAVEN is located near Egypt Beach, far enough from the ocean so that the worst of storms have never reached the house, yet it is only a seven-minute walk to the beach. It is a large, uninsulated, unheated “cottage with redwood paneling, a wraparound deck and about twenty beds spread across four bedrooms and a sleeping porch, all on the second and third floors. The first floor is the living, cooking, dining, and entertaining space, with an infrequently used TV room off to the side. The house is eccentrically located to one side of the large double lot, providing plenty of grassy turf for children to play.

Over the years, REST-HAVEN has hosted many of the clan’s wedding celebrations and has now entertained four generations of children, who have spent countless summer hours playing on its grounds.

As recent generations of the family have moved away from the Boston area, everyone eagerly looks forward to migrating back to REST-HAVEN every July 4^th, coming in from Iowa, Minnesota, California, and Canada, to join the Boston contingent and enjoy the camaraderie of the extended clan, which now numbers about 40.

My wife is the second oldest of ten siblings, which includes seven sisters. This sisterhood is the heart and soul of the family. They drive the social schedule and interpersonal dynamics of the entire clan, with a strong emphasis on being emotionally supportive and professionally encouraging, always with kindness as the overriding emotion. 

The sisterhood also forms the catalyst for the dancing portion of every joyous, music-filled family gathering. As soon as the first chord of “We Are Family!” is heard, all rush to the dance floor, and the partying begins.

Of course there are times of family drama, but those discordant event are anomalies and are resolved by the sisterhood expeditiously, respectfully, and with kindness.

This clan is about as close to the ideal extended family as I can imagine.

For this July 4^th celebration, Gail and I arrived at REST-HAVEN on July 1^st. Gail drove while I cycled the 30 miles from Somerville to Scituate. By the time we arrived, nearly all of the extended clan were already at REST-HAVEN, with the remaining arrivals expected the following day. 

Most of our time is spent carrying or playing with each other’s kids and grandkids (aged 3 months-12 years), walking to the Scituate lighthouse, going to the beach, visiting Scituate Harbor, and talking and talking and talking. And, of course, eating. 

The only planned event for this July 4^th holiday was a family dinner on July 3^rd, followed by a walk to Egypt Beach to watch the fireworks.

This July 1^st was a glorious day to be in Scituate; sunny and in the 80s, a perfect summer day. 

In the late afternoon of July 1^st, I found myself sitting alone on the front porch, next to an open living room window, watching the distant ocean, the clouds in the sky, the walkers making their way home from the beach, and the dog walkers. 

I let my mind wander, half-listening to the indistinct but delightful sounds created by young adults and very young children coming from the living room window. They were the sounds of an extended family that truly cares about each of its members. It was the sound of familial love:  Sounds of the family

It was at that moment that I realized how fortunate I was to have been adopted into this unique clan. I cannot imagine a more loving extended family.

On the evening of July 3^rd, after dinner but before the fireworks, and unbeknownst to me, K and S had organized a birthday recognition for the oldest members of the clan, which included F, G and me.

We were all born in 1954, celebrating our 70th birthday, and now retired. In front of the gathering, we were each asked to answer a uniquely appropriate question and received a gift reflecting the proper answer. 

Subsequently, we each said a few words to the gathered Whoriskey clan, where I expressed my gratitude for being adopted by this magnificent extended family.

Even though the clouds of political gloom weighed heavily in the air, it was a singularly delightful 4^th of July holiday.

 

Bug: There was some type of corruption to the text below that made it necessary for me to re-install the paragraphs in many of the below entries. I did the best I could. I have no idea why that happened. 

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June 20, 2024: My Father’s Day email to my son, who is a new dad.

I do not usually celebrate holiday’s that I believe where created for “other” people. For example, when Mother’s Day comes around, I expected my kids to take the lead in celebrating my wife’s hard work as their mother.  I know this is a minority opinion.

Knowing this, my daughter Sierra suggested I make an exception and celebrate my son’s newly assumed investiture into fatherhood. So I sent my son the below email.  

Dear Calder,

Last night at 3 AM, during my usual journey to the bathroom, the word “bubala”* unexpectedly came to mind. I do not know why.

You probably haven’t heard the word bubala* before. The last time I heard it was likely when I was 5 years old and Tessie (my maternal grandmother) was tenderly talking to me. Just thinking about this makes me emotional.

It reminds me of the many, many generations of predecessors who worked so hard to escape the pogroms of eastern Europe, moving to a country they only knew in their dreams, to afford me the possibility to get where I am today. To all of them, I owe a huge debt of gratitude, which I obviously cannot repay.

And thinking backward in time makes me also think forward in time, which brings me to you and Father’s Day.

When kids turn 18, they think they are adults. While this is technically true, they are not, in my opinion, really adults.

When they are in college, they begin to believe everyone should treat them as adults, even when they continue to live a very un-adult lifestyle. As before, they continue to have essentially no adult responsibilities other than ensuring they do not flunk-out. They continue to be provided with food, housing, clothing, transportation, emotional support, and money. And now they begin to party late into the night and engage in many other un-adult behaviors; not necessarily bad or harmful behaviors, but certainly not behaviors one sees in most “adults.”

Upon graduating, they are certain they are adults and expect everyone to treat them as such. While some have become financially self-sustaining, securing their own food, housing, and spending money, many continue to live an un-adult lifestyle. Some may party late into the night and others may over-prioritize immediate pleasures over long-term happiness. And still they know that if everything falls apart, they can still “call home.”

In my opinion, many people are not truly “adults” until they have their first child; for it is at that moment when all the un-adult behaviors melt away and new parents re-sort their priorities, with the new baby as priority number one.

While I had always thought that I had successfully instilled good, moral values into my children, and I never had a reason to believe otherwise; when I watch you father [name redacted, my granddaughter], I am amazed and proud. You are so kind, patient, moral, thoughtful, and considerate.

In every way, you have become the adult every parent would be proud to claim as their own. I am so proud to call you my son, proud of the adult you have become, the father that you are, and all that you have accomplished.

And I look forward, with whatever years I have left, to watching in awe as you navigate your journey in life.

Happy father to Father’s Day.

Much love, Dad

*bubala is a Yiddish term of endearment meaning “sweetheart”, “darling”, “close to one’s heart” or “dear”. It is often used by grandparents to affectionately address their grandchildren.  

In hindsight, my daughter’s suggestion was an excellent idea. Thanks Sierra.

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June 11, 2024: A memory issue, and a list of events

Since my last entry, I have:

5/23: On our way to Maryland, Gail and I first drove to B & S’s house in Westchester (suburb north of NYC.) We have been my friends since middle school, and we stayed at their house for one night. We sat around the pool and talked. The landscaping around the pool and backyard is beautiful—all the plants are fully matured and meticulously maintained. We talked about our kids, politics, hallucinogenics, retirement, and how we are aging. They spend a tremendous percentage of their time grandparenting (11 grandkids, all within driving distance).

We are all seeing the effects of age; some have experienced problems resulting from wear and tear on the body (as I told my patients, the body is a mechanical device and the parts wear out). I told them that I am aware of a decrease in my short-term memory, which I will discuss below.

5/24: Gail and I left Westchester in the morning and drove to Maryland for the wedding of Gail’s niece and to see our 9-month-old granddaughter, son and daughter-in-law.

Gail’s family is large, and the six sisters are very close. Whenever there is a family gathering, they alone are sufficient to ensure the party will be a PARTY! After the wedding dance, the band played “We Are Family,” which is the family’s “theme song,” and on cue, all the sisters, spouses, and anyone who is close with the clan migrated onto the dance floor, and the party was ON and remained ON until the band played their last note at 10 PM.

Sierra also attended the wedding in Maryland and had a great time playing with her cousins, but her spouse did not.

The service took place outside, overlooking the water, and into the setting sun. During the party, I was the designated driver and, more importantly, was entrusted with the care of my 9-month-old granddaughter. I carried her around, just she and I, as I strolled through the house (mini-mansion), the curated gardens, along the edge of a wide river–a tributary into the Chesapeake Bay, and “back stage” among the party’s support crew. I had her to myself for about 3 hours. It was delightful, especially when she fell asleep on my shoulder during the wedding ceremony. Her parents got a bit of time to forget their parenting responsibilities and simply enjoy the family and the party. It was a win all around.

5/25: I drove back from Maryland to Massachusetts by myself—Gail was visiting friends in Annapolis—and it took me about 8-8.5 hours. It wasn’t bad, as Tesla’s auto-drive makes long-distance driving much less stressful and tiring.

6/1: I gave my “Designing Your Retirement” lecture to the MIT Club of Boston.  I have given this lecture several times previously but was looking forward to giving this lecture to the MIT community as I needed some critical feedback. According to Gail, who attended, it was the best version of my lecture to date, and the audience definitely enjoyed the lecture, complimenting me on the quantity and quality of data, and the organization of the material. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn on the microphone to record the lecture, as I had intended. Maybe I’ll remember next time. The syllabus and a video of another presentation are here.

6/3: In the evening Gail and I went to my local bar, The Burren, which had billed the musical event as a three-saxophone playoff. The first set was entirely dance music along the lines of big band/swing. Unfortunately, I am defective and incapable of dancing, which frustrates Gail to no end, as she absolutely loves to dance. But she knew this when she married me. We had dinner and left after the first set; maybe the saxophone playoff was going to occur during the second set. 

6/4: I created the first sample of a technique that I’m going to use for my next frame, which I referred to as my “layered ripple frame.” I have already selected the photograph for this frame and sent it to be printed on aluminum in a glossy format.

6/5: I created a photo collage while walking in my neighborhood in the morning.

In the afternoon, we euthanized our dog Antigone, a very sweet dog. We got her from her former owner when she was about 5 and had her for a decade. She had been in failing health for last several months, but took a turn for the worse and it was time. We both cried when she was euthanized. I think this was harder on Gail. Afterwards Gail created a list of all the dogs we’ve had over the years, which turns out to be 9 or 10 dogs. We usually had two dogs at a time. Gail doesn’t count Logan as he was in our possession for less than two weeks. We returned Logan to the rescue league after a possible aggressive interaction between Logan and one of Calder’s neighborhood friends. At the time, Calder was about 10 years old.

6/6: Sierra and her spouse came to our house and stayed with us overnight, on their way to a wedding in Connecticut.

6/8: Gail and I went to see the musical Gatsby: An American Myth at the American Repertory Theater with J & B, and we then had dinner with them. They all loved the show but I thought it was good but not spectacular. The staging was impressive, but, in my opinion, it overwhelmed the story. The ART likes “big” staging as the send many productions on to Broadway. Seeing the play has convinced me that I need to re-read the book, The Great Gatsby, which I last read in high school. I have added it to my reading list.

6/9: Gail and I attended the MIT Club of Boston’s barbecue for volunteers. I was invited because I created and organized the first MIT COB Social Pickleball League which took place in MIT’s Rockwell Cage.

As I mentioned above, I am pretty certain I have a short-term memory problem. There have been many incidents which have led me to this conclusion.  Recently, I had decided to stop listening to the audiobook, “Jumpnauts,” when I was about 30% into the book, as I thought the character development was unrealistic and there was a gratuitous and over-reliance on science fiction to keep the plot moving forward. So I downloaded another audiobook, “The Saint of Bright Doors.” I can’t say I thought it was a great book, but I intended to keep listening to it. After listening to only 6%, I downloaded the audiobook “Nettle & Bone” and began it, forgetting I that was listening to The Saint of Bright Doors. I do not have an explanation for what happened. Maybe this occurred because keeping track of audiobooks on the iPhone is a bit confusing. There are several lists, including Want to Read, Finished, Books, Audiobooks, Continue, Downloaded. But I don’t think that’s what happened. I am now 75% through Nettle & Bone and will finish it. Then I will return to and finish the audiobook The Saint of Bright Doors. Then one of the free audiobooks I recently downloaded: Journey to the Center of the Earth, Treasure Island, The Great Gatsby, or I will continue reading (not audiobooks) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or review parts of How to Change Your Mind.

Another example of my failed memory: in generating the below list, I initially had no recollection of the audiobook “Kinds of Minds,” purchased on 2/6/2024. It wasn’t until I investigated a bit that I realized I had listened to a third of the audiobook before I decided that it wasn’t quantitative enough for my liking—it’s a book written by a philosopher at Tufts University–and decided to stop listening to the audiobook. There really isn’t much one can do to significantly improve or significantly stem the decline in age-related cognitive function. There is exercise, cognitive activities, creative activities, and wearing a hearing aid, but nothing has a major impact. Time will tell if it is, or will be a significant problem.

Recently purchased audiobooks:

• 1/12/2024 The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron- did not finish. Too religious for my liking.
• 1/18/2024 The Sense of Style: The Thinking person guide to writing in the 21st-century, by Stephen Pinker
• 1/19/2024 Gratitude by Oliver Sachs
• 2/6/2024 Medgar and Myrlie, by Joy-An Reid
• 2/6/2024 Kinds of Minds: toward an understanding of consciousness, by Daniel C Bennett – did not finish. Not sufficiently quantitive. 
• 2/24/2024 Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to hold onto what matters, by Charan Ranganath
• 4/1/2024 Childhood’s End, by Arthur C Clark
• 4/11 The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis
• 4/20 On the Road: the Original Scroll, by Jack Kerouac
• 5/1 Timequake, by Kurt Vonnegut
• 5/17 Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sachs, M.D.
• 5/26 Jumpnauts, by Has Jingfang – did not finish. Too unrealistic.
• 6/2/2024 The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera
• 6/5/2020 Nettles & Bone, by T Kingfisher

Gail has decide she does not want to drive cross-country with me, visiting parks, museums, and whatever attracts our attention. It was my plan to arrive at my grand-daughter’s home in time to attend her 1st birthday party. Maybe I will fly with her, or maybe I will drive. TBD.

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May 22, 2024: Predawn ride

Delightful predawn bike ride this morning on the Minuteman Bikeway, Lexington, MA. The bird sounds and the sun’s rays dancing across the morning mist in the Great Meadow were beautiful and unexpected.  22 seconds video of sunrise 5/22/2024 ~5AM

I created a montage of some of my photos which I call My Neighborhood Version 1

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May 17, 2024: Musing during a bike ride…

A Physician’s Obligation to the Next Generation

My primary care physician is retiring, so I need a new PCP. I’ve decided I will become a patient in of the internal medicine residents clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. For those unfamiliar with the US’s medical education system, after four-year as a medical student, one enters a residency program in fields like internal medicine, family practice, surgery, psychiatry, etc for a 3-7 years. Some new physicians will go into practice after completing their residency, while others pursue further medical education in a “fellowship,” training in subspecialties such as endocrinology, cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, nephrology, and more. To many, it might appear illogical that I would choose a young, relatively untrained doctor as my primary care physician, someone who has yet to complete their basic medical education. However, as a former physician, I believe I have an obligation to help train the next generation of doctors. At this stage in my life, my only option is to allow the new physicians to learn their trade using me as their patient, rather than “learn medicine” while treating patients who are unfamiliar with the medical system. And, of course, the medical resident will be supervised by a fully trained physician.

Serial Reading Coincidences, An Unexpected Trilogy

As I mentioned previously, I recently finished reading “Timequake” by Kurt Vonnegut, in which he commented that Arthur C. Clarke’s book “Childhood’s End” is a masterpiece of science fiction. Son on Kurt’s recommendation, after finishing “Timequake,” I read Clarke’s book, which was fantastic, especially the unexpected ending—I could not put it down. In the story, aliens (referred to as the Overlords) take control of Earth, then end all wars, famine and generally make life better for all. In the course of the story, it becomes clear that the super-intelligent Overlords could not understand why Homo sapiens listen to music. After I finished “Childhood’s End,” I decided to read nonfiction and chose Oliver Sacks’ (Sack was a neurologist at Columbia University) audiobook “Musicophilia, Tales of Music and the Brain.” In the first paragraph of the Preface, Dr. Sacks references the Overlords from Clarke’s book…

Preface 

What an odd thing it is to see an entire species, billions of people, playing with, listening to meaningless tonal patterns, occupied and preoccupied for much of their time by what they called music. This at least was one of the things about human beings that puzzled the high cerebral alien beings, the Overlords in Arthur C. Clark’s novel Childhood’s End. Curiosity brings them down to the Earth surface to attend a concert. They listen politely, and at the end, congratulate the composer on his great ingenuity, while still finding the entire business unintelligible. They cannot think what goes on in human beings when they make or listen to music because nothing goes on with them. They themselves as a species, lack music. We may imagine the Overlords ruminating further back in their spaceships. This thing called music, they would have to concede, is in someway efficacious to humans, central to human life…

Dr. Sacks goes on to discuss how music effects our brains, in a multitude of ways we do not fully understand. Nevertheless music is clearly part of being a member of the Homo sapiens species. So…

Timequake —> Childhood’s End —> Musicophilia, what a seemingly odd trilogy!

I do not know why music makes me feel so much better, but it does. Cycling under a canopy of green while listening to music cleans my mind and soul.

Also see: The Joys of Cycling the Somerville Community Path / Minuteman Bikeway

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May 12, 2024: Keeping busy and more…

I had my 15 minutes of fame as a result of The Boston Globe article which discussed my Somerville Community Path creations. This fame was  extended by 30 minutes when I was interviewed for a podcast called Innovation Showcase. It was a fun interview.

“and if the above effect is not obtained, waste no more time on it.”

I enrolled in an online class to learn the nuances of using a smart phone camera–I was very much looking forward to the class. Unfortunately, there were too many people in the class who required basic smartphone camera training.  Taking Leonardo da Vinci advice, “…and if the above effect is not obtained, waste no more time on it.” So I will move on.

MIT’s Writers Group

I continue to attend the Monday’s MIT’s Writers Group session but it is very clear to me that I do not have the imagination and skill-set to write fiction at the level of the other attendees. Nevertheless, I will continue with the zoom class, as I learn from others. For now, I will continue to focus my writing in the non-fiction realm.

MIT Social Pickleball League Comes to an End

It took several months of effort, negotiating between MIT Club of Boston and MIT before the Social Pickleball League came into existence in February 2024. Three days ago was our last session, the tenth of ten sessions. Now, with the warmer weather upon us, I have decided to end the Pickleball League, so we can all enjoy the outdoors and maybe, after the first of the year–when the winter doldrums engulf us, I will attempt to resurrect the League.

Designing Your Retirement

On May 3 I gave a 90 minute Designing Your Retirement lecture at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. Although the attendees seemed enthusiastic, I’m not sure if they thought it was a useful lecture. The talk was a little bit rushed as there were 30 minutes of unexpected questions. I recorded the entire presentation, edited the 90 minute talk down to 54 minutes and posted it on Youtube, a link to the video can be found here. I finally obtained a date to give my Designing Your Retirement lecture to the MIT Club of Boston (6/1/24), and a session at each of the two locations of the Cambridge Council On Aging (5/30 and 6/10/2024). Hopefully some people will attend the sessions. Links to these talks, and possible others, are here. After I get through these talks, I’ll decide if I want to give more lectures. I have continued with my thrice weekly 2 hour cycle on the Minuteman Bikeway.

Audiobooks and Books

As I have discussed previously, I sometimes listen audiobooks when I ride. I recently finished listening to:

• • Timequake, Kurt Vonnegut. In the book, Vonnegut defined What is Art?
  • On the Road: the Original Scroll. Jack Kerouac. The reader was fantastic.
  • The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis. About two psychologist who work together, and then were unable to work together. One of the two, Daniel Kahneman won the Noble Prize in Economics.
  • Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke. Kurt Vonnegut, in Timequake, said that Childhood’s End is one of the few masterpieces in the science fiction genre. I am about 75% through this book, and am enjoying it. Classic science fiction.

Free Palestine from Hamas   – and –   Free Israel from Bibi

I again feel compelled to make a brief comment about Israel’s military tactics in Gaza, which I previously addressed in my entry below of February 22, 2024 and January 1, 2024.

Yesterday I got into a discussion with a supporter of Israel who argued that Hamas needs to be eliminated and Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7, 2023 atrocities was a reasonable and legal response.

I explained that the Israel’s inflicted civilian casualties has so far crossed the line of morality that Israel has forever damaged its ability to interact with the rest of the world, and this damage will surely work to Israel’s disadvantage, for decades.

As I, and many others have noted, there are only two paths that the Israelis and Palestinians can jointly tread; perpetual war or a two-state solution. There is no third path.

There are two political entities, Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu, that need to be rendered politically irrelevant before a two-state solution can be forced on the combatting participants; as they have both stated that they will never agree to implement a two-state solution.  Although I have no influence over Hamas, I can, as an American, attempt to influence my country’s foreign policy. Thus, a few weeks ago, I sent an email to President Biden asking him to stop sending weapons to Israel until Prime Minister Netanyahu has been removed from office. 

If these two actors can be removed from the political stage, then there is reason to believe a lasting peace can be implemented.

In September-October 2023, it looked like Saudi Arabia was about to formally recognize the State of Israel, as there would subsequently accrue financial advantages to both Saudi Arabia and Israel. This impending geopolitical shift, occurring immediately prior to (and possibly precipitating) Hamas’ October 7, 2023 war crime spree against Israeli civilians, raises the possibility that Saudi Arabia would be willing to fund the creation of a Palestinian state, if it could be done in a way that had a high probability of creating an enduring peace.

And if an enduring peace can be had, and if it creates a robust Palestinian middle-class, the probability for a subsequent conflict will be markedly reduced for generations.

It is now abundantly clear that it is in America’s self-interest to force Israel to adopt a two-state solution. The Israeli public must recognize the new political reality with all due haste as fewer and fewer American Jews now blindly support Israel; and this decline in support coincides both with Netanyahu’s tenure in office and has been accelerated by Netanyahu’s military tactics in Gaza. As the American body politic will soon be unwilling to shoulder the fiscal responsibility of protecting Israel at historic levels, it is in Israel’s short-term and long-term interest to rapidly seek a permanent peace, which can only be had by enacting a two-state solution.

Israel must accept this new political reality TODAY, if it wants to survive in an increasingly hostile geopolitical world; as the hostility will assuredly get worse the longer the Palestinians do not have their own homeland. The first step in this long path to a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace is for the Israeli public to remove Netanyahu from office while the Palestinians (or the Israeli military) eradicate Hamas.

Then a two-state solution can be created and the long, hard work of building a Palestinian middle class can begin, with, hopefully, Saudi Arabia’s help.  

A Rippley Frame

I have been working on a new style frame, I call it my ripple frame, and it explores the effect of adding texture, ripples to the traditional frame. If done properly, when the lighting is somewhat tangential, the frame contains shadows that look very cool. 

And my other my other creations…

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April 21, 2024: A fun day

As I mentioned in my entry of 17 April, there was article about my interactive sculptures on the Somerville Community Path that appeared in the online version of the Boston Globe. Today, that article was on the front page of the Metro section of the Globe.

BostonGlobeMetro

The colorful photographs that accompany the article nicely complements and enhances the joyous nature of the article. Needless to say, I have received many compliments from family, neighbors, and friends about the article and the sculptures.

I think the author, Spencer Buell, did a remarkable job finding a “hook” in the story and creating a narrative which was entertaining to read and made the reader want to read the entire article.

As I discussed in my Designing Your Retirement syllabus, it was to be my “purpose” in retirement to create things (objects, writings, other) that led people to smile or cause them to ponder ideas they had not previously considered. Clearly, these two sculptures hit the mark, in that (nearly) everyone who interacts with them smiles. I can’t say that prior to their creation I had an epiphany that the sculptures would have this effect, I only knew that I wanted to make them. I thought they would be entertaining to create, challenging to build, and, if I could do build them, they would make me happy.  

So these sculptures turned out to be a big win for me: they were fun and challenging to create, they end product made me happy, and their creation helped give me “purpose” in retirement as they made others happy. I still smile every time I see the joy the sculptures bring to others. Sometimes, when I am down, I walk over to watch people interact with them; and I leave happy.

Yesterday evening we had our semi-annual Somerville Neighborhood Pot-luck Dinner at our house. It was delightful gathering of 25 people, 3 dogs, and transiently attended by a neighbor’s 4 and 6 year-old. This was the largest number of attendees in the 15 years. The evening was a lot of fun, as it is an interesting group of people, with a diverse range of interests and ages, ranging from ~30 to ~70. As I had learned during my research for the Designing Your Retirement syllabus, intergenerational interactions like this are healthy for all involved, especially seniors.

There was too much food, which is exactly the right amount. I am told the food was great. While I enjoyed the food, my sense of taste had been greatly diminished as a result of my loss of sense of smell (anosmia) which occurred early in 2020 from Covid. Thus my opinion of the quality of a beverage or food  should probably be ignored.

For the price of a cookie, I was able to get the 4 and 6 year old to try out the child’s rocking chair that I recently finished building.

Although the chair is not perfect (the center of gravity should shifted back a couple of inches), it’s perfect enough, and completely functional. My daughter, for whom I built the rocking chair, will be very happy with it and I will be happy to see her child, my grandchild (if/when she has a kid) sit in the rocking chair.

During our dinner, I had an interesting conversation with Ben’s uncle regarding the difference between an “artist” and a “maker”. I didn’t know this at the time, but he was/is an artist who makes sculptures. To me, the difference between an artist and a maker is that an artist is spontaneously and persistently creative, it’s simply in their DNA, whereas a maker, like myself, becomes creative in response to an external stimuli. Maybe I will explore this topic at sometime in the future.

Our neighbor, K, finished the Boston Marathon 6 days ago in time of 3:14:52, AMAZING. He is still recovering. When I asked him if he’s going to do it again, he states that it will depend on many factors, including whether his wife’s opinion, as she had to sacrifice a lot so he could train for this as event over the preceding months.

Most people stayed around for about 3.5 hours.

By 9 AM the following day, everything was cleaned-up. And then the Boston Globe article came out in the physical newspaper.

Now that most of my “projects” are done (Designing Your Retirement syllabus, Rocking chair), it is time to think about some new projects. Maybe I’ll make a bookcase or a chest of drawers based I this design I created many years ago.

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April 17, 2024: My 15 minutes of fame…

Everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame. Mine happened today when the on-line version of The Boston Globe published this article. For those without access to the on-line version of  The Boston Globe, here is the PDF version: TheBostonGlobe_20240417

As the article indicates, I had not obtained “permission” from the City of Somerville or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; so this may yet comeback to bite me at sometime in the future. (Recall, No good deed goes unpunished.) But for now I’m smiling.

As an aside, I don’t think of myself as an “artist” but as a “maker.” To me, an artist is recurrently and spontaneously creative: creativity is in the artist’s DNA. In distinction, and speaking only for myself,  a maker becomes creative in response to an external stimuli, such as a problem that has to be solved with a physical solution or an idea that must be made tangible. Maybe this is a distinction without a difference or maybe it doesn’t matter.  And for the other things I created…

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April 10, 2024: Being present in the moment vs documenting the moment

On April 8, Gail and I drove 220 miles north so we could witness our first and last solar eclipse in full totality. Yesterday I added an essay and photographs to my blog in which I chronicled this adventure: Totality’s Duel Dawns: My Great Eclipse Adventure of 2024

Reflecting on the events of April 8 from the vantage point of today, an interesting dilemma arose which merits discussion.

Prior to the eclipse’s arrival, I had decided I wanted to be “fully present” for this singular celestial event and would not take any photographs during the eclipse. This seemed like a rational decision as I had neither the equipment nor the requisite expertise to take high quality astronomical photographs, and was certain that hundreds of skilled photographers would freely distribute high-quality images of the eclipse. As soon as we passed the point of the first diamond ring and entered totality, I was mesmerized by an unexpected sight: two “dawns,” one to the east and the other to the west of the encroaching lunar shadow (umbra).  I was so excited to see this unanticipated and unique phenomenon!  Immediately I turned to Gail to ensure she too saw the “dueling dawns.” Then, without thinking–irrationally–I picked up my iPhone 15 Max and began to photograph the full panorama, encompassing the two dawns flanking the total solar eclipse. The photographs of the dueling dawns inspired me to write my essay, Totality’s Duel Dawns: My Great Eclipse Adventure of 2024.

On reflection, I find myself torn between frustration and exhilaration. Part of me regrets not staying true to my intention to be fully present and allowing the experience to envelop me without the distraction. On the other hand, I am thrilled that I photographically documented the “dueling dawns” a phenomenon I had not seen captured in photographs and was unaware even occurred. Indeed, without these photos, I wonder if I would have trusted the authenticity of my memories. 

Although being “in the moment” needs to be prioritized, I’ve come to realize that there are moments in time when capturing an event photographically should be given an even greater priority.  Perhaps, then, there is wisdom to episodically allowing our “irrationality” to dictate our priorities.

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April 7, 2024: Need more projects

Tomorrow is “the eclipse” and we’re planning on driving up to Burlington, Vermont, assuming cloud cover will be minimal–right now it looks promising. This should be a spectacular eclipse as solar activity is currently near a solar maximum, and this will result in a larger solar corona than was seen in the 2017 eclipse, when the sun was near a solar minimum activity. I am very concerned about “eclipse” traffic between Boston and Burlington, Vermont

March 20: Gail and I attended MIT Club of Boston’s first annual TEDx-like conference in which 5 people discussed their academic work. After the presentations, Gail and I chatted with some MIT alumni over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. It was an informative and enjoyable evening.

March 21: I attended my weekly MIT pickleball league (typically 8-10 people attend each session.) Yesterday I committed to a second 5 week session (10 people signed-up) that will run thru mid May.

March 22: I gave my Designing Your Retirement lecture to the Somerville Council On Aging and it was very well received. And it was a lot of fun. 

March 24: I flew out to Napa, CA to see our granddaughter, now 7 months old. Gail went two days before me and returned 1 day after I returned. I came back on the redeye on the 26th. I find that 2-3 days is enough time for me with an 7 month old, after which I start to get fidgety. Gail needs more time with our granddaughter.

March 28: Jean read a section of her new book, Mother Love, at Porter Square Bookstore. It was very well attended and the discussion was interesting.

March 29: I helped Manny with his health IT website, Healthful Data. It seems like he’s got something that is probably going to be of value although the endgame is not yet clear. Also on March 29, I remotely attended Gail Leondar-Wright’s talk about Stephen Sondheim, the lyricist for Westside Story. He was a 25-years old at the time, at the  beginning of his music career, working with Leonard Bernstein, who was about a decade older but already a legend. How do you tell a legend that his music score or  lyrics need to be revised?

March 30:  Gail organized a book party at our house for Jean and her new book. Unfortunately, I was sick so I remained upstairs while the party of about 30 people proceeded downstairs. Both Jean and Gail were very happy with how it turned out

March 31, Easter, we visited Allison and Leo at their house, also in attendance were two of Gail’s sisters, their progeny, spouses and friends. And the Easter bunny.

April 1: I continue attending my weekly MIT’s Writers Group although I’m not sure I should do this for the long-term. It has become clear to me that if one wants to write fiction, they need to write every day for at least a few hours. I don’t think I have the discipline or interest to do this. I get a greater satisfaction out of doing the research on a subject I am going to write about. Maybe I will (mostly) stick to nonfiction. I also have other things I would prefer to do instead of spending 2-3 hours every day writing, or attempting to write. But for now, I’m enjoying the interaction with others in the MIT’s Writers Group and will continue to attend.

April 2: I attended the MIT Museum Song of Extinction play reading, done in conjunction with Central Square Theater. I liked the play but thought it was a little slow in the midsection.  By the end  it was clearly emotionally resonant. The play dealt with “extinction” as well as the ending (and changing) of relationships.

April 3: Gail and I attended Central Square Theater Beyond Words, which was about Irene Pepperberg and her parrot Alex. (For those with an interest, there is a lot online.) The play dealt with misogyny in academia, interpersonal relations, and how we treat animals.

I am absolutely convinced that animals have emotion and we should treat them accordingly. Anybody who has a dog knows that their dog has emotions and also knows that the dog can read our emotions. There is no reason to believe that dogs and Homo sapiens are the only species that experience emotions. As I discussed in my Designing Your RetirementDesigning Your Retirement syllabus, many animals have the same U-shaped happiness curve that is seen in every society in the world; very happy as a young adult, less happy in the mid-life years, and again very happy as an older adult.

April 5: Gail, Barbara and I visited Mudflats studios where Barbara had a cup she made accepted into a juried show. Some of the clay cups were very impressive. 

April 6: I finished the rocking chair for a five-year-old and I’m happy with how it turned out.

Rocking chair for a 5 year old

April 7: Went for a 2 hour bike ride. There were remnants of plowed snow in Lexington and Bedford, MA.  Built a dog staircase from the floor to the bed and created this diary entry—which took too much time.

I’m beginning to think I need to begin some more projects–the child rocking chair is done and my Designing Your Retirement syllabus is essentially done–it is time to create some new projects, so I remain busy. I am scheduled to give a Designing You Retirement talk to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and the Cambridge Council on Aging would like me to give the talk to their audience, and Tufts Life-long Learning group may also be interested. Maybe more talks will follow subsequently. But I need more projects. I have been toying with the idea of setting up, through the MIT Club of Boston, a weekly or monthly brunch for retired men (?men and women), but for reasons that are not yet obvious to me, I’ve been reluctant to implement this plan. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to commit to another weekly event. Or maybe because I am uncertain if it will succeed or because I have not decided if it should be uni-gender. Or maybe there’s a subconscious reason which has caused me to hesitate.

On the political front, recent polling data on the Presidential election is bleak–maybe it will change as Biden begins to get his message out. This poll from the WSJ proved to me that the MAGA people are primarily motivated by tribal affiliation. As can be seen in the poll’s question 32 and 33, the vast majority of respondents believe the US economy was neither good or excellent, (despite the fact that it is objectively the best economy in the world,) while 50% believe the economy in each of these battleground states was “good or excellent”.

600 registered voters in each state. Would rate the..	AZ	GA	MI	NC	NV	PA	WI	Total
…the U.S. economy as Excellent/Good (Q 32)	35%	32%	34%	33%	38%	38%	41%	36%
…the STATE’s economy as Excellent/Good (Q 33)	51%	59%	46%	64%	52%	47%	57%	54%

This “discontinuity” proves to me that the Trump supporters simply parrot the MAGA tribe’s espoused dogma, i.e. “the US economy is bad”.  As there is no MAGA tribe dogma regarding the status of the economy in the individual states, the majority rated the state’s economy as “good or excellent”, as it is. This is cognitive dissonance is best explained by Homo sapien’s need to be a member of a tribe. Unfortunately Homo sapiens have been unable to move beyond our Pleistocene brains.

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March 18, 2024:Again, nothing important, other than I like making things.

For several months I have been intermittently trying to create a device to suppress the wind noises which are generated by cycling. I refer to this as a cycling wind muffler. I have tried items that are sold for this purpose and found them to be somewhat effective, suppressing wind noise by ~25%, but they were not as effective as I had hoped. Last cycling season, I made my first version of my cycling wind muffler from a piece of leather that was left over from my credenza,  kitchen cabinet, and front door projects. I manually sewed the leather to the front and rear helmet’s chin straps, covering my ears with a piece of leather. While my cycling wind muffler was more effective in suppressing wind noises than the commercial devices, it had some problems. It was difficult to hear ambient noises through the leather and I could not easily removed/reinstalled my cycling wind muffler. After a few rides, I removed it from the helmet and gave up on the project. With a new cycling season beginning, I decided to try again, but with a different fabric. Gail had a pair of discarded hiking pants; the fabric was 86% nylon, 14% elastane. This is a very thin, quick drying, and durable fabric. I sewed velcro strips to the external surface of the front and rear helmet chin straps. I then cut-up the pants and used a sewing machine to secure velcro strips to my new cycling wind muffler. The third iteration worked the best.

This version of my cycling wind muffler is transparent to ambient sounds, reduces wind noises by ~50%, and can easily be removed and reinstalled as needed. Preliminary testing leaves me optimistic that this will work. Three days ago, Gail and I went to Sculler’s Jazz Club in Boston and listened to Nicholas Payton. I know very little about jazz or, for that matter, music. For this reason, one of my goals in retirement is to learn more about music, thus I have taken classes about Stephen Sondheim and Verdi’s Requiem, discussed in my March 15th entry below.  While I enjoyed the music, and was able to find a “beat to tap my foot,” I found my self wishing that  the songs were longer, as I was caught up in the music and did not want the song to end. It was a good evening with Gail.

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March 16, 2024: One more (unimportant) thing

I stumbled upon this interesting tidbit of data, which I added to “Designing Your Retirement.”

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March 15, 2024: I have been busy doing other things

I have made no entries in this journal since my last entry of January 18, 2024, as I was otherwise engaged. I began this journal on December 26, 2022 2023, a few days after I retired, with the intent of documenting my activities and obtaining a better understanding of my motivations and interests during the early phases of my retirement. I needed this information so I could create a cogent lecture about retirement for my Regis College Lifelong Learning group lecture (click here and look for “Video.”) This endeavor led  to the creation of my free booklet “Designing Your Retirement.” 

During the months of January and February I became so engrossed in the research and writing “Designing Your Retirement” that I was too busy to write in this journal. When it was completed on February 29, 2024, I had little need for additional “retirement data” so I stopped writing in this journal, until today.

So what have I done since January 18, besides creating Designing Your Retirement? Am I having fun in retirement? How could I make retirement better? For the record, I watch relatively little television/Youtube; maybe I watch, on average, 1-1.5 hours of tv/YouTube per day. When I do, I watch PBS Newshour, a movie (rarely), or a YouTube video about woodworking, cycling, science, a technical contraption, or animals. Fun or interesting Youtube videos I have seen in the last 2 months include: 

• Macabra Orchestra (to the music of Verdi’s Requiem)
• Egg Drop From Space 
• Patrick and the Whale on PBS’s Nature
• Herbert von Karajan, Verdi Requiem 1967
• Why Cashew Nuts Are So Expensive
• Robin Williams Explains Golf
• Why Olympic Curling Stores Are So Expensive
• The Happiness Curve: Interview with Jonathan Rauch
• Buster Keaton – The Art of the Gag
• The Almost Final Glitter Bomb 5.0

I have attended weekly zoom groups at the Tufts Lifelong Learning lectures on Stephen Sondheim’s and Verdi’s Requiem.  The Sondheim class was led by Gail Leondar-Wright who has committed her retirement to understanding and teaching everything that’s been written about Stephen Sondheim. She is a font of information and is incredibly enthusiastic. As a result of this class, my understanding and insights into Stephen Sondheim’s music, lyrics, and life increased several orders of magnitude–and we only discussed a few of Sondheim’s plays. If you want to know more about Sondheim, take one of her classes.

I also attended a weekly lecture on Verdi’s Requiem given by Elke Jahns. This too was eye-opening, especially because my understanding and insight into classical music is so limited. For me, the highlight of the class was watching the movie Defiant Requiem, which demonstrated the power of art to transcend and defy the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. 

Rafael Schächter, a brilliant, young Czech conductor who was arrested and sent to Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp in 1941 … his most extraordinary act was to recruit 150 prisoners and teach them Verdi’s Requiem by rote in a dank cellar using a single score, over multiple rehearsals, and after grueling days of forced labor. The Requiem was performed on 16 occasions for fellow prisoners. The last, most infamous performance occurred on June 23, 1944 before high-ranking SS officers from Berlin and the International Red Cross to support the charade that the prisoners were treated well and flourishing.

This is a movie that should be widely seen. I have continued to attend the weekly MIT’s Writers Group. While I haven’t presented any of my writings since I read them my His Story, Her (The Turtle’s) Story, I enjoy reading/listening to the writings of others, as I try to acquire a better understanding of the writing process. So what else have I been doing:

January 19:  I stopped reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron as it was too “spiritually inspired” for my taste.

January 20: Dinner with M (my former nurse and a role-model nurse with the highest of ethical standards) and S at our home. I enjoy their company and it was fun catching up with them about their life, grandkids, and work. 

January 23: Gail and I visited our granddaughter, now 5 months old in Napa, CA . While there I went on a 24 mile cycle through the vineyards on my Klein road bike (which I gave to Calder some years ago) which is a least 23 years old. It was a joy to ride and very different than the gravel bike (Priority Apollo) that I now ride. 

January 28: I attended a politico-environmental talk at Porter Square Book Store where my friend, B, was one of the four speakers. Unfortunately, the event was not well choreographed.

February 2: I finished listening to the audiobook The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st-Century by Steven Pinker. This is a writing manual that’s firmly grounded in the principle that language changes with time and writing should reflect those changes. Much of it was too technical for me but overall, I enjoyed it and am glad I listened to it. Typically, I listen to audiobooks while cycling, but this book was listened to on my walks, mostly to Mamaleh’s delicatessen in Kendall Square, as it was too cold to cycle in Massachusetts during the months of  (December), January, and February–I don’t like to ride if it is less than 40°.

February 3: I attended a concert at Somerville Armory given by Peter Mulvey, which was fun, with my former NP, M and her husband, D (software engineer who transitioned to a happier and more fulfilling career as a master woodworker.) The venue has been massively improved and the acoustics are good–and it’s walking distance from our house.

February 4: Gail and I had dinner with two of our neighbors, R & R, during which we had serious conversations about life and that too was a lot of fun.

February 5: I had another echocardiogram to assess my aortic insufficiency (or aortic regurgitation).  As there have yet to be any changes in the shape of my heart, deterioration in the functioning of my heart, or symptoms of heart failure, it remains classified as severe and stable AI or AR. Should any of those things happen, as is likely to occur at some unpredictable time in the future, it will then require surgery–a major operation likely associated with a risk of cognitive decline. So, it is best to delay surgical intervention until it is absolutely necessary but not so long as there is significant structural changes to the heart. For now, I remain essentially asymptomatic (without symptoms).

February 7: Gail and I and B & J attended Central Square Theater’s production of Machine Learning. This was an interesting play which I saw as a play reading at the MIT Museum in 2023. It explores the use of artificial intelligence, including the risks, benefits, and ethics, wrapped in a compelling story of a relationship between a son (the developer of the AI) and his father. Definitely worth seeing although I think the play still needs more work to enrichen the emotional impact of the characters on the audience. Then, on to Broadway.

February 9: Gail and I took an Amtrak train from Boston to Washington DC to visit and stay with our friends D & R. I did my internship and residency at Vanderbilt with D & R. R has retired but D has not, and I’m not convinced D’s ever going to give up being a physician. Needless to say this creates problems for R, who would like to travel but D’s academic, clinical, and administrative obligation make extended travel problematic. In the two days in DC, we visited the Phillips Collection, the Smithsonian Museum of America Art, the Smithsonian Museum National Portrait Gallery, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Indians, which has a very cool building. The city is awash in free, cultural venues.

February 14:  Valentine’s day. I made a digital card for Gail.

February 16: Again, I acted as a sounding board to help M in his development of his app Healthful Data. I think this project has potential given its ability to provide people with an understanding as to how their health compares to others. But like any health information technology product, bring this to market is going to be an uphill battle, with long odds.

February 17: Attended paint night at a bar with Gail, where I created a horrible rendition of van Gogh’s Starry Night. Pretty obvious who has facility with a paint brush, and who does not. But we had fun. 

I also listened to a zoom conference “Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-cultural Manifestations of the Sacred Conference 2024” at Harvard. I was not overly impressed with the quality of the “science” and I didn’t learned anything that was interesting or useful.

February 19: Finished listening to Medgar and Myrlie, an interesting and informative book about Medgar Evers and his wife Myrlie. Medgar Evers was the first major civil rights leader who was assassinated (1963), followed by Malcolm X (1965) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968). Medgar attempted to rectify racial injustice in the most racist state in the country, Mississippi. Both a Herculean and heroic task, requiring a level of courage and perseverance that few could match. His wife, Myrlie, ultimate came to head (and save) the NAACP, the oldest civil rights organization in the US and was a powerhouse in her own right. The book was read by the author, Joy-Ann Reid.  It was a great combination of historical facts (I did not, but should have known) and a very personal story of Myrlie. Well worth one’s time. 

This is the type of literature that the red states are banning from the classrooms because it makes some residents “uncomfortable” to learn what their grandparents and great grandparents did and they don’t want to other to know how this racist history impact’s America today. This new form of racism (ignorance is bliss) and the harm it does to the concept of “truth,” is now promoted and condoned by the MAGAmaniacs and their deeply-flawed messiah, cannot be underestimated. Maybe, if these people were consistent in their philosophical proclivities, they would also insist that we stop promoting the Bible, given the horrible consequences that religion have had on millions of people around the world.

I have continued to work on my new, child’s rocking chair, more on that later.

February 21: We had another Rembrunch (retired elderly men’s brunch) meeting attended by M, M and me. T was in his NH house as his Somerville house is undergoing construction. We had a great conversation. M and M bonded over kayaking–one does lake kayaking and the other does ocean kayaking. Both are certified by the state of Maine as instructors in their relevant interests.

February 22: I attended an MIT conference “Israel and the Middle East after October 7th massacre. Threats, Challenges and Hopes.” Unfortunately, members of the MIT Palestinian community refused to participate and they tried to prevent the conference from taking place. The speaker, “Ms. Tzipi Livni, former Israeli Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Justice. Ms. Livni was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world,” was immensely knowledgeable and could potential become prime minister of Israel if the liberal wing assumes control of the government. Unfortunately, the issue of the massacre being done to the innocents of Gaza was not adequately addressed, other than for her to say that, paraphrasing, “Israel follows the international rules of war and those rules state nothing about what is considered acceptable civilian casualties.” I have no idea if this is true. 

Despite the fact that Hamas uses civilians as shields, has a contemptuous disregard for human (Israeli and Palestinian) life, and is dedicated to the killing/removing all Jews from Israel, Israel has far crossed the line as to “acceptable” civilian Gaza casualties and is now also causing harm to Israel (per Biden,) the Jewish people’s standing in the world, and America’s reputation in the world. And this damage will last for decades.

The status quo solution to  the “Middle East problem” is for Israel to repeatedly beat down Hamas after a Hamas attack, only to have Hamas arise again, stronger and with a more outlandish and hellish attack. This is not a rational longterm solution and is adamantly not in the interest of America, nor will America’s body politic be willing to provide the resources to Israel indefinitely into the future. Unfortunately this is the only solution that is acceptable to Netanyahu’s. So he must go. 

Recently I have tweeted and wrote to Biden saying: “Biden should go over the head of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appealing directly to the Israeli populous that the only durable solution is a two states solution. As that cannot happen if Netanyahu remains in power, the US should pressure Israel by stating that future weapon transfers from the US to Israel will be contingent upon Netanyahu being removed from power.”

I started to write an essay on this subject, complying two pages of notes and then two things happened. First, eight senators issued a statement to the White House that says funding to Israel needs to be stopped until they allow America to deliver food into Gaza unhindered, as per American law. Yesterday, New York Senator Schumer stated that Benjamin Netanyahu should be voted out of office by the Israeli populous as he is adamantly opposes the two state solution, which is the only solution other than perpetual conflict. 

I no longer need to write that  essay as the  idea is already part of our national dialog. Not surprisingly, the Republicans have chosen to play politics with this issue, while offering no alternative solution (their modus operandi).

February 24: Gail, J, B and I saw the play “Becoming a Man” at the American Repertory Theater. This play far exceeded my expectations. I thought the characters failed to elicit the emotional resonance that I hope to experience in theater, but this deficiency was made up for by the intellectual ideas explored in the play. Thus, I would put this play on my list of “well-worth seeing”. After the play we went out to dinner with J and B and had a fruitful conversation about issues raised in the play.

February 26: I listened to a zoom lecture called “The Art and Science of Happiness – Arthur Brooks” given at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. Arthur Brooks teaches Harvard Business School’s Managing Happiness class. I took the online version and used the information from the class in the “happiness” section of my Designing Your Retirement booklet. While his discussion of happiness is firmly grounded in social science research, IMHO, the rigorousness of much of the social science research is not on-par with medical or basic science research.

February 27: I attended a session of the Lexington Pickleball league for beginners. A fun sport.

March 2: Gail and I had dinner at our house with M & D, S & D, and an interesting conversation ensued.

March 3:  Gail and I had brunch with M (from my Rembrunch group) and his spouse E, at their apartment in Somerville. This was a lot of fun for all involved.

March 4: I was interviewed by a writer for the Boston Globe regarding my sculptures on the Somerville Community Path, Elly the Elephant and George the Giraffe and Big Poppy. I have no idea if the interview is actually going become an article–time will tell.

March 6: Gail and I had dinner with S & D for S’s birthday at a restaurant in Belmont. Always fun to talk with them about politics, science and our kids.

Over the last few days I wrote and have now posted another essay about the Supreme Court: Handcuff Our Rogue Supreme Court. I can tell by the lack of response that most people don’t like this idea. I’m reasonably certain that with time, many people will come to recognize that it is an idea that needs to be considered. This will definitely happen if Trump takes over the White House and tries to impose his backward, anti-science, religious agenda on Blue America.

March 7: Attended my inaugural MIT Club of Boston Spring Pickleball League event. Twelve people attended, and PK (of Lexington Pickleball fame) taught us everything we need to know about getting started with pickleball. Everybody seemed to have fun. We have four more sessions over the next four weeks and long-term planning is TBD.

March 9: I sat for Gail in a dark room with a spotlight on my face while she painted me as an exercise in understanding shadows and geometry.

March 13: I saw a urologist at MGH for BPH. I will try one or two medicines, but the problem is not severe enough for me to  consider surgery, at this time.

March 14: Today is Pi ( π ) Day – a big event at MIT. 

Pi ~= 3.14159…, is the ratio of the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. 

I attended the second MIT Club of Boston Spring Pickleball League–10 people attended. Some asked if we were going to continue after our five sessions. I’m going to need to reach out to MIT to figure out how we move forward. After pickleball, some went to Flour Bakery, I couldn’t join them as I had other obligations. Next time I will.

March 15: I have but 1-2 more steps before I can assemble and finish the child rocking chair, which I have been working on intermittently since January of February 2023. I really like how it looks: Video of child rocking chair, incomplete I have begun cycling again as the temperature now is consistently above 40°, riding two hours, three times a week, from Davis Square, Somerville to Bedford and back. I am eagerly waiting for the plants to come into bloom, which should happen any day now. So far, I am happy in my retirement although it does require a lot of planning–activities do not happen organically. I still feel like I need more “meaningful” friendships and I may try to create a second retired, elderly men’s brunch group using the MIT Club of Boston as the advertising vehicle. Or maybe it should be for men and women. I’m not sure.

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January 18, 2024: Contributing something of value to society

I have decided that it is important that I adhere to schedule, and lately I have successfully done so. Typically, the dogs wake me up about 6 AM. I then let them out back, empty the dishes from the dishwasher, clean up the kitchen and then sit down with a cup of coffee. I proceed to review my  schedule for today, read my incoming emails looking for new events I might want to attend, and peruse the NYT and other online sources for anything that might interest me.

About this time Gail comes down for her morning coffee and I  begin to tell her about all the horrible and wonderful things I’ve read and learned in the last hour. Her usual response is “not before my coffee.” Why can’t I remember that!? I then go for my morning walk, about 2 miles, listening to an audiobook.

Today it was, Oliver Sacks’s book Gratitude, four short essays, he wrote just before he died. Excellent! When I get home, I shower and then sit down at my desk and begin writing.

For the last several weeks. I have been working on my book/PDF/curriculum, (I’m not yet sure what to call it) about retirement. It is an enhancement and expansion of my essay “Designing Your Retirement” and the associated lecture I gave it Regis College. This new book/PDF/curriculum version is now about 130 pages, but half of that is pictures. Yesterday morning, I was working on the section about volunteering and I discussed the benefits which accrue to the altruistic volunteer. I was struggling with my final paragraph, in which I mentioned that I was not doing volunteer work, and it dawned on me that it may appear hypocritical for me to recommend that others engage in volunteering when I was not. 

Ultimately, I thought back to an earlier section in mybook/PDF/curriculum, where I defined my “purpose and meaning in life” which was to create things that engage others emotionally or intellectually, or are valued by others. I went on to explain that I experience a sense of gratitude when a person who looked at/read one of my creations reacted to it in someway and that makes me feel like I had contributed something of value, at least to one person in society. In his essays, Oliver Sack’s explains that when he received feedback from his readers it made him feel that he lived a good and fulfilling life. (I am paraphrasing.) I like that.

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January 14, 2024: Some recent ruminations and laments

I recently visited The Clark, Mass MOCA, The Metropolitan Museum, The Cooper Hewitt Museum. Every time I visit a museum, I lament my lack of creativity. The Cooper Hewitt Museum’s ES Devlin exhibit included models of staging she created for various theatrical performances and concert venues. It was a tour de force of creativity. After I see stuff like that, I again become convinced that I am not as creative as I should be and I need to immediately run home and start creating something.  Gail thinks I’m very creative, but she always says good things about her relations. I know that the only time I am creative is when I encounter a problem that needs a resolution or a situation that could be made better. Once I have this external stimulus, I can be very creative but in the absence of that external stimulus, I do not seem to be able to generate creative ideas de novo. Larry gave me the book “The Artist’s Way” which was written in 1978. I have started to listen to the abridged audio version, read by the author.  It appears to be a series of exercises that need to be done over a few months and it will help improve one’s creativity.  The audiobook is only 3 hours long, so I will listen to it while cycling or walking. I’m not certain I have the discipline to complete all the assignment of the book, as I have other tasks I would also like to accomplish. I’ll make a decision after finishing the audiobook.

I have been working on my retirement essay/lecture and decided to create a free book or PDF (The Designing Your Retirement Book) which will include all the slides and the ancillary text that goes with each slide. This has been a prodigious effort as it requires me to find a fair number of primary source academic articles. It has been fun to locate and read these hard science and social science articles, and organize them in a way that (hopefully) will make sense to others. For some articles, I can only access the abstracts due to a lack of an institutional affiliation, but the abstracts are sometimes, but not always, sufficient. I will use “The Designing Your Retirement Book” as a source of information I can consult when I create future iterations of Designing Your Retirement lectures. I plan to modify the content in the lectures based on the allowed time and the educational level of the audience.  

Right now I am scheduled to give the lecture to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in May and to the Somerville Council On Aging in March. I will make The Designing Your Retirement Book available to everybody from IHaveAnIdea blog. I’m not convinced very many people (anyone) are going to want to look at it, nevertheless, I’m going to continue to develop it. The second “slide” in the “Designing Your Retirement” lecture addresses the subject “Who Am I?  Why Should You Listen to Me.” At this point in the lecture I mention that everybody has at least one superpower. I now realize I have two superpowers.

My first superpower is that I can be very creative when presented with the situation/problem that needs a solution or needs improvement, as discussed. This can be seen in my essay discussing ways to improve our political system.

My second superpower is that I have the ability to take a large body of technical information and organize it in a way that affords new insights or is otherwise helpful to the reader/listener. In hindsight, I think my first display of this superpower occurred when I was a medical resident at Vanderbilt and I wrote an article “Does exogenous magnesium suppress myocardial irritability and tachyarrhythmias in the nondigitalized patient” which was published in 1987 in the American Heart Journal, a major cardiology publication, as an editorial. I was the sole author. Apparently it has 51 references and has been cited 43 times including multiple citations as part of American and European “guidelines for management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death.” I guess that was the high point (and the end) of my academic medical career.

I finished my online Harvard Business School lecture “Managing Happiness,” which I took because I needed information about “happiness” for me Designing Your Retirement essay/lecture. Clearly, this was not the typical hard science class which I was expecting. I lament the fact that the lecturers didn’t critically review any of the primary articles that formed the basis of  their statements. I am also suspect that much of the soft science data will be contradicted in future publications.  But this is social science and psychology, not math and physics.

I regret that I have not yet heard back from MIT regarding the alumni pickleball league. I will ping them again soon.  I am also uncertain if my Rembrunch group is going to survive as one of the participants is moving, which leaves us with only three participants, and other two travel and have second home up north. We only meet if we have a quorum of three, so if one is away, we do not meet. It is far removed from Waymo (driverless taxis) that cruise around San Francisco.

I think I am going to try to set up a monthly brunch for retirees drawn from the MIT Club of Boston if the pickleball league doesn’t materialize, or maybe even if it does.  My online Tufts classes start in 1-2 weeks, one 4 session lecture on Verdi’s Requiem and another on Sondheim.  Looking forward to this and seeing Josie in 2 weeks in NAPA.

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January 1, 2024: Maybe 2024 will be geopolitically better than 2023, I need more meaningful relationships.

2024 is upon us. Despite our oppressive geopolitical reality, I am hoping against hope that 2024 will be better than 2023; but I am not optimistic. America faces an existential political crisis. The Republican Party has actively adopted the tactics and policies of fascists and abandoned any fealty to America’s norms of political behavior and adherence to the values of the US Constitution. Existing Republican members of the Senate and House of Representatives have been unwilling to stand up to their putative presidential nominee, despite his blatant adoption of Nazi propaganda, anti-democratic values, and worse. In fact, many Republican members of the Senate and House of Representatives now trust and promulgate Putin’s statements and policies over the statements and policy positions issued by the US State Department, CIA, FBI, NSA, DOJ, and US Military. It is amazing how quickly and far the Republican Party has fallen in its 5-decade spiral as it kowtowed to their most extreme constituents, and there is no reason to believe they have hit bottom, as the “bottom” keeps dropping lower. If Trump wins in 2024, I suspect the Republican Party will get renamed the Trumplican Party. The events in Israel and Gaza will continue to impact the world (and Jewish) history for decades. Failure of the Arab and world community to condemn Hamas’ rape, kidnapping, and mutilation of innocent Israeli children and women is horrific and an ominous omen of the future. That is not to suggest that what Israel has done to the innocents of Gaza is morally acceptable – it is not. But at least many American Jews and some Israelis have acknowledged the immorality on both sides whereas the vast majority of Hamas supporters have been unwilling to condemn Hamas’ rape, mutilation, and burning of innocents, while calling for the annihilation of all Jews in Israel (“from the river to the sea”). Hamas will never defeat Israel because, as Golda Meir, Israel’s 4th Prime Minister said in 1970s, “We have a secret weapon – we have nowhere else to go.” So it can be expected that the entire Middle East will go up in a massive conflagration before Israel’s Jews concede to their own extinction. Hopefully, more rational Arab and Israeli politicians will soon rise to the challenge and choose to seek a lasting and mutually beneficial peace between Israel and the Arab world. This will require the elimination of Hamas and the replacement of Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, as his entire political career has been predicated on a refusal to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank while he continually confiscated the property of an ever increasing number of West Bank Arabs and gave their land to his far-right political supporters.

I am now one year into my retirement. While I am still happy, I have concerns that I have failed to create the quantity and quality of meaningful friends that I think are necessary for a healthy and fulfilling retirement. I will continue to work in that direction.

I am having fun with developing my “Designing Your Retirement” curriculum. I have recently integrated some data from the social science literature about “happiness” (Positive psychology) as well as data from elsewhere in the social science world. I am looking forward to my next presentation of “Designing Your Retirement” and hope that my lecture will not have too much of an academic spin, but just enough to convince the listener that my suggestions are supported by the data.

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Go to: My Retirement Diary 2023