A summary of the January posts from the MORE TO COME newsletter.

Earlier this week I saw three dads with about a dozen children all riding their bikes on their way to the neighborhood school. I smiled. The next generation is picking up the torch, eager to learn. We can do this!

Winter, which can be difficult, is also the crucible of the life cycle, a metaphor for the idea of retreat and renourishment. We need this reminder especially in trying times. Yes, January brought savage wildfires, a polar vortex, and that thing that happened at noon on the 20th. Throughout the month the “Winter is coming” warning of House Stark in Game of Thrones—a message often heard in the series when someone wanted to scare the bejesus out of another character or simply keep them in line—kept running through my head.

When we had a blizzard in New Orleans earlier this month I begin to think that perhaps we’re not heeding that admonition.

But . . . I keep coming back to this mantra: You can do this hard thing. My post, which followed Bishop Mariann Budde’s speaking truth to power at the National Prayer Service, builds off a song of the same title by singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer. It calls on us to acknowledge the difficulties in life while affirming that we have everything needed to move forward.

Let’s jump in and see what else caught my eye in January.

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TOP READER FAVORITES

Two posts topped the list of reader views for January.

• In my first Author Q&A of the year, Syd Stapleton answers my questions about his novel, Troubled Waters: A Sea Story (available here), which is an environmental disaster cloaked as a whodunit. In Fiction as a pathway to the truth we discuss the impacts of rapid change on the environment of the San Juan Islands, the building of wooden boats and ships, and how—in an age filled with disinformation—sometimes the use of fiction in literature is the best way to discover the truth. Syd has an interesting background: he studied at Berkeley in the 1960s and became a leader of the Free Speech Movement; debated William Colby, former Director of the CIA; ran for Congress as a socialist in 1970 (and lost); and has been a former ferry captain, landing craft relief skipper, and tugboat worker. Plus, he’s a regular reader of MORE TO COME. I enjoyed our conversation and hope you’ll take a look at it as well.

• In 2013 I established eight rules of how I want to live day-to-day. I highlighted them on January 1st in Rules for the road of life. “Don’t be a Grumpy Old Man. Enjoy life!” (#8) is my reminder to “just say ‘no’ to negativity.” 

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READINGS FOR A TIME OF CHALLENGE

So many comments and emails this month begin or end with some variation of “here’s hoping 2025 will be a better year than I expect.” Living through this period is going to be a challenge. Reading helps.

• Systemic change only occurs after acknowledging a systemic problem is a review of Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley. If there is one thing we learned in January, the tech oligarchs don’t care for, and actively work against, democracy. But we can resist.

• The strength to live in the present with dignity, creativity, and love, posted on January 20th with the juxtaposition of MLK Day and the presidential inauguration, looks at Howard Thurman’s seminal book Jesus and the Disinherited, a work that influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.

• The questions we ask about the facts of history is a bit of a grab bag, touching on the 50th anniversary of Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, history lessons from a horror film writer, a link to the best online history writing of 2024, and thoughts on the eulogies at President Carter’s funeral. Steve Ford’s words to the Carter children—“God did a good thing when he made your dad”—deserves a hearty amen.

• Simplistic solutions often miss a clear view of the past. Honestly people . . . read a history book! is one short rejoinder.

• And finally, there is the always popular From the bookshelf: December 2024.

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MUSIC OF PERSEVERANCE AND HOPE

Music of perseverance. Music of hope. Music for the MLK Weekend. is just what the title suggests: a celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Bitter Southerner had a listing of the top 20 Southern albums of 2024. I look at six of them in Joy, dreams, faith, honesty, melancholy . . . and riff raff.

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LAUGHTER, GENTLENESS, AND FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION

Several posts turned toward the theme of following your passion.

• Put your best cup forward—an appreciation written for a new coffee shop/micro-roaster that opened around the corner—has helped me realign with another of my rules of the road.

• Savor life’s gentle moments is a meditation about how, in the midst of an angry world, we can respond from a different place. In the words of Marv and Nancy Hiles, “We do not build our souls as much as we find them along the way. We discover them by accident as much as by intention. There is a time to take our lives in hand, but there is also a time to take our hands off our lives, and to leave what seems apparent and trust ourselves to the hidden.”

• For anybody who could use a break looks at an optimistic, charming, and contemplative novella. I don’t usually read science fiction, but this one came along just when I needed it.

• Rest in Peace, Mr. Baseball is my appreciation for Bob Uecker, whose humor and self-deprecating style earned him fame and affection far beyond his .200 batting average.

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FEATURED COMMENT

The Uecker appreciation generated a number of comments. Brilliant reader Bob Stephenson wrote to say that “the Niekro knuckleball story” was also his favorite. Uecker had famously said that the best way to catch Phil Niekro’s knuckleball was “to wait for it to stop rolling and then pick it up.” I replied that I’d seen Niekro pitch live when I lived in Atlanta in the early 80s and chasing after passed balls was something any catcher did. Bob replied:

“Ryne Duren was the only uncatchable pitcher I saw in person when he came to Savannah for a Yankees-Senators exhibition. Coke-bottle glasses made his blazing fastball even scarier. Stengel famously said, ‘If he ever hit you in the head you’d be in the past tense.’ Glad that Uecker didn’t have that misfortune!”

Baseball stories are the best!

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CONCLUSION

Thanks, as always, for reading. Your support and feedback mean more than I can ever express.

As you travel life’s highways be open to love; thirst for wonder; undertake some mindful, transformative walking every day. Recognize the incredible privilege that most of us have and think about how to put that privilege to use for good. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and others can feel especially vulnerable . . . because they are. Work hard for justice and democracy as the fight never ends.

When times get rough, let your memories wander back to some wonderful place with remembrances of family and friends. But don’t be too hard on yourself if a few of the facts slip. Just get the poetry right.

Remember that “we are here to keep watch, not to keep.” Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. And bash into some joy along the way.

Finally, try to be nice. Always be kind.

More to come . . .

DJB

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For the December 2024 summary, click here.

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Photo of winter from the Unsplash community.