In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 6/11/20

From Seattle Times sportswriter Larry Stone’s column, June 10: In negotiations with players to resume a season shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball is administering self-inflicted wounds from which it might never fully recover, no matter how...

In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 6/8/20

Yesterday was a good day overall in my little world, though in a way analogous to how a terminal patient has “good days and bad days,” and you learn to accept the good days with existential gratitude. Last night just before bed I melted down because there were some...

In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 6/4/20

Monday morning, June 1, I awoke early feeling drained. This time of year in Seattle it’s hard to sleep in anyway, since it starts getting light before five o’clock. In addition to which there’s now the daily fact that – especially on the West Coast – you go to bed on...

In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 5/30/20

The unrest in cities coast to coast overnight Friday, and the governor of Minnesota’s mobilization of the National Guard, and Trump’s invocation of “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons,” drove me to my backyard shed, to dig out from a plastic tub an unpublished essay...

In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 5/26/20

“Hey there, Rip Van Winkle,” said Dennis Rea, my guitarist friend, by way of greeting as I stepped out onto my front porch. He was standing outside the gate, wearing a mask and holding up a small brown paper bag. In the bag was a mushroom log, maybe eighteen inches...

In the time of coronavirus: Seattle, 5/18/20

One consequence of having traveled as much as I have is that you lose the ability to hold yourself aloof, because you make friends and gain a measure of ground-level understanding of their circumstances. Thus, for example, knowing Haiti as I do – having traveled there...