Good listeners

"I remember late one night in Paris / speaking at length to a dog in English / about the future of American culture." Read "Le Chien," a poem by Billy Collins from the collection Dog Show.

https://lithub.com/le-chien-a-poem-by-billy-collins/

Experienced

Keep the faith

"As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate."

E.B. White's beautiful letter to a man who had lost faith in humanity.

https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/05/06/e-b-white-letters-of-note-book/

In my element

 I'm amused to discover that my current photo on our department website is not the official pic snapped a few years ago by a campus photographer- admittedly a bit outdated, that guy still had a bit of hair- but a whimsical selfie I took on a more recent birthday, in the cemetery near school. It appealed to my slightly morbid sense of humor to celebrate another year closer to eternity in that setting. But I didn't submit that photo or authorize its use for official public-facing purposes. I wonder who found it and decided to post it.

No matter, though. I'm pleased to be represented in my element... our element, since (as Annie Dillard said) we're all destined to spend eternity on this mote of dust, most of it tucked under. Philosophy is about learning to die (and thus live while we can), after all. And I'm happy to present myself to our prospective students in the great outdoors, on this side of the turf.

Logical fallacies

10 most common-

https://www.threads.com/@curiousmindshub_/post/DRzbycojq3R?xmt=AQF0r85RCSv1LEAyh3YQhm58dH6kWcMJnHAVga6zgRLzfYfFYSO-tAZniGi7qqTuTC_nA9A&slof=1

Ford on Thanksgiving

It's not all invented.

Willie & sons' tribute to John Lennon

Grateful finally to have found this:

https://youtu.be/hqS4rgG7TjU?si=3aNcbNowDc9PArzK

“The best part of Thanksgiving...

 is being with family and friends and a vast array of pies.”

Live long and dogwalk

Well, those of us who actually walk with their dogs do. Too many don't.

"After Our Daughter's Wedding"

While the remnants of cake
and half-empty champagne glasses
lay on the lawn like sunbathers lingering
in the slanting light, we left the house guests
and drove to Antonelli's pond.
On a log by the bank I sat in my flowered dress and cried.
A lone fisherman drifted by, casting his ribbon of light.
"Do you feel like you've given her away?" you asked.
But no, it was that she made it
to here, that she didn't 
drown in a well or die
of pneumonia or take the pills.
She wasn't crushed 
under the mammoth wheels of a semi
on highway 17, wasn't found 
lying in the alley
that night after rehearsal
when I got the time wrong.
It's animal. The egg
not eaten by a weasel. Turtles
crossing the beach, exposed 
in the moonlight. And we
have so few to start with.
And that long gestation—
like carrying your soul out in front of you.
All those years of feeding
and watching. The vulnerable hollow
at the back of the neck. Never knowing
what could pick them off—a seagull
swooping down for a clam.
Our most basic imperative:
for them to survive.
And there's never been a moment
we could count on it.

by Ellen Bass from Mules of Love. © BOA Editions, 2002. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

https://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio/the-writers-almanac-for-wednesday-november-19-2025/