Swimming

First time in the pool this year — did 16 lengths, felt good. I walked around the pond (third time this work week, that means every day so far this week) and saw a golden-crowned kinglet and a great blue heron, as well as the four swans that have been there all three times.

Clarinet 2

Remember the clarinet I bought a couple of weeks ago? I got it out this evening and practiced for a while. It sure sounded like someone just starting to learn an instrument — all those tunes you can play with the first four notes you learned: “Go tell Aunt Rhody”, “Mary had a Little Lamb”, …

Government wish list – 1

More serious items – End war in Iraq Serious regulation of financial markets Graduated income tax on corporations, enough to make it unprofitable to be “too big to be allowed to fail” Much more steeply graduated income tax on individuals, more like it was before the Reagan era Normalization of relations with Cuba, allow free …