Today in History: Oct. 2

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze decor,
 
A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.
 
You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.
 
The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.—Wallace Stevens, “Of Mere Being,” Opus Posthumous

Wallace Stevens (above) was born on this date in 1879.
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Graceless and Grateful

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

It was as if every wish I had made in childhood for a hole in the ground to open up and rescue me had been answered in reverse …

* * * *
I bear a scar from the first Valentine’s Day that I had a reason to celebrate as Valentine’s Day, as a part of a couple.

Until my current relationship, my romantic history was a long walk alone in an empty field, punctuated by moments in which I interrupted someone else’s walk, attempted to try a relationship, and discovered that I try people’s patience instead. (All the women I have dated are brilliant and accomplished and I was lucky to get to know them; I was stuck at age 15 for an astonishingly long time, however.)

My love right now, my soul mate, Jen, is quite brilliant and accomplished, and for the first time in my life, four-plus years now, I am an equal partner and have opened myself up to having an equal partner. Not too bad for a 47-year-old 15-year-old.
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Today in History: October 1

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Years after the event, Babe Ruth recounted his “called shot” of October 1, 1932, as something planned almost from the start of the at-bat, the game, his life.

What certainly took place is this: with the New York Yankees tied with the Chicago Cubs 4-4 in Game 3 of the World Series, Ruth came to the plate in the fifth inning, and after two strikes, he held up his hand and pointed … somewhere.

At the pitcher? At the Cubs dugout? Towards center field?
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