Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4674 )

• Serenity

  

  A few weeks back I posted about a dove that had built a nest on an unused planter on our front porch. I’d read that mourning doves choosing your house was a sig... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Too Close?

  

  What with the US Navy admitting that UFOs are real and all, it seemed like a good idea to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind over the holiday weekend. Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Somebody Elsism

  

  It’s 5:30 a.m. the day after Memorial Day and I’m out jogging. I go out at this time because there’s not much likelihood of encountering many other people. Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Remembering Cautiously

  

  Memorial Day has a special poignancy when thousands of people are needlessly dying from a disease. As the unofficial kick-off to summer, the holiday also marks... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Nothing To Eat

  

  Some stories are unsettling to the point of spirituality. That’s my impression of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. My wife wanted my opinion of it and when she used... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ancient Technology

  

  The pandemic, like any news event these days, has generated a whole new vocabulary. I had to look up PPE on Google (Personal Protective Equipment, if you live i... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• WHO Knew 2?

  

  According to Mark Twain’s taxonomy there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Right now about all we have are in the last of these categories under the most... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Cold Psalms

  

  “Ne’er cast a cloot ’til May be oot,” as we heard it in Scotland, was a warning, loosely translated, to “never take off a layer until May is over.” That bit of... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Qohelet’s Washcloset

  

  Cast your bread upon the water, as Ecclesiastes says, and it will come back to you when you need it. Since bread is a common slang word for money, and since... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Still Evolving

  

  Evolution, the 2001 movie, I mean, is good escapism. Thinking back on 2001, instead of a space oddessy, another piece of news—another national crisis, in fact,... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Straining Andromeda

  

  As corona-life settles into just the way things are, I pulled out my copy of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. I read this in high school, and, judging... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Old Inspiration

  

  Moving is a process that really has no end. I suppose if working folks took a few weeks of staycation and really concentrated, getting everything unpacked... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• I Saw Three Letters

  

  For some reason I seem to have less time during lockdown than I had during whatever the opposite of lockdown may be. Still, papers pile up and I have to sort an... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• White Whales

  

  Every once in a while I return to Moby Dick. I’m not sure why exactly Melville’s classic has such a hold on me. Perhaps because I first read it while living in... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Tent Pegs

  

  Among the many things that have happened during the pandemic to fill my time, I was invited to join a virtual book discussion group. Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Honey and Wine

  

  Academic writing tends to be limiting. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy reading a well-crafted academic work, but when facing a new one I always experience tha... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Is It Real?

  

  I’ve been reading an ebook and I feel lost. I resorted to the ebook because I was invited to join an informal virtual bookclub. Book discussion group may be a... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Than Sand

  

  My sci-fi roots may be showing, but when John W. Morehouse posted a story on TheoFantastique’s Facebook page about Dune, I had to follow up. Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Really Celebrate

  

  It’s a dilemma.  How do we celebrate Mother’s Day during a lockdown?  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things.  Given that it was snowing around here... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Open a Book

  

  With all the talk of premature “reopening” one development does seem to bring cheery news. Germany and Italy, it is reported, are considering experimenting... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY