A Winter's Walk

Now that we are in the midst of winter, it seems appropriate to post another poem by my younger brother Robert DeStefano, a retired high school science teacher and a lifelong naturalist who has published a number of his poems and other writings on Amazon. I append his explanation.

A Winter’s Walk

 

up

 before sunrise

like 

a child on Christmas Eve

anxiously

waiting to see

what awaits

me

owls are still

 hooting

hoping to scare a mouse

out of hiding

light rays appear

and

reveal most trees 

have shed their

 leaves

except for

beech trees leaves 

that will

hang on until

spring

I

begin my walk

light illuminates

the green feather-like fronds

of

the Christmas Fern

winter is the time for

this evergreen

to show off its beauty

as all around

 it is

brown

hoar frost glistens

on 

delicate evergreen pine tree needles

they 

defy the

 cold

sway in the

 wind

and

 perfume

 the frigid air

a giant sycamore tree beckons

me

a ghostly sight

eerily white

has shed its outer bark

to remove harmful boring beetles

an icy pond

radiantly reflects sunlight

ducks bob up and down

in a small 

ice-free patch

startled by me

they quack

they fly

 circle the pond

provide

a dazzling display

of color

and as

 light reflects off their feathers

they

wave

 goodbye

A Winter’s Walk

Whenever I go to my little log cabin in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, in late fall or winter, I know I have to be prepared to expect the unexpected.  I have encountered porcupines sleeping just outside the back door to the cabin.  I use a shovel to place the porcupine in a wheelbarrow and move it to the forest, only to have it reappear the next day.     I have had to deal with red squirrels packing Norway Spruce cones between the rafters of the dirt floor cellar for winter food.  They know not to place the cones on the floor because once the thaw arrives, there will be about 12 inches of water in the cellar that will ruin the remaining cones.  In short, I never know what to expect as the cabin is in a remote area with my closest year-round neighbor about three miles away.   I start the wood-burning stove and try to get the cabin to about 65 degrees before nightfall.   I get up early, at least two hours before dawn, add wood to the fire, get dressed, and patiently wait for sunrise.

I once found a book being discarded by a library titled “One Day on Beetle Rock” by Sally Carrighar when I had just returned from the Army in 1972.  The book caught my eye because there was an image of a squirrel on the cover.  When I saw the title on the inside of the book, I almost put it back until I read the first two lines of the book.  They read, “The water of the brook reflected the sunlight up to an alder branch, where it flickered along the gray bark. On the fool’s gold under the ripples lay a web of sunlight, gently shaken.”   I could not stop reading the book.  I realized that Sally Carrighar possessed a gift for observation as well as being able to describe with impeccable detail the events that occur in nature.  One seems as though they are actually in Sequoia National Park, where nine animals are interacting with nature and each other during one day on Beetle Rock.  I have always loved nature, but her book made me realize that I had to use all my senses when walking in nature because there is so much to be seen, heard, smelled, touched, and even occasionally tasted when one gets into “the woods.”

My poem depicts a typical winter’s day for me at the log cabin and the surrounding woods.  I am very fortunate to be in an area scarcely touched by humans.  To me, as a former science teacher and Botanist, the property is like my personal outdoor laboratory.  There is so much happening during every season of the year; however, it requires childlike eyes and a childlike mind to appreciate it all.  

Yes, the Christmas Fern has a story to tell.  How does it survive the freezing temperatures?  Yes, the Sycamore trees have a story to tell.  How did they evolve to shed their bark to avoid insect damage? Yes, the pond has a story to tell. How was it formed, and why is it so important for so many species that live in or near it? I will attempt to answer these questions with future poems and stories. 

###

Trump: Egomania or What?

 

A long-time friend just sent me an email in which he argued that President Trump’s actions and words were the product of his massive ego. My friend has never liked Trump and cannot believe that Trump is motivated by anything other than self -conceit. I think my friend’s views are shared by millions of Trump haters.


For example, in a recent interview conducted by Bret Baier with Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, a high-ranking member of the Senate Intelligence committee, the Senator attributed all of Trump’s foreign policy initiatives to personal ego, and not to any legitimate policy or strategic concerns. The Senator, given his status, should know better.

In foreign affairs the Trump administration has had one success after another. After the bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities, the President brokered a cease fire in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Later, he brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. About the same time, he brokered a cease-fire between Rwanda and Congo, two warring African nations. Leaders of both countries signed the deal in the Oval office. Earlier, President Trump intervened to prevent a war between India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers. Were these initiatives all motivated by personal ego?

I don't agree. Why would a 79-year-old man who has everything even want to be President? He is rich, has a beautiful wife, luxurious homes, and everything else? He came within an inch of being shot to death, was impeached, and charged with many crimes. Half the country hates him with passion, and will not give him credit for anything.

Could it be possible that back in 2016 he actually believed that politicians were flushing the country down the toilet in both domestic and foreign affairs?

Look at the mess after the invasion of Iraq. If President Bush had known in 2001 that American troops would be fighting in Iraq for over a decade, would he have invaded in the first place? Remember that Vice-President Dick Cheney was detested by Democrats and charged with provoking the war just to benefit oil-driller Schlumberger. Now Cheney is a Democratic saint because Trump opposed the Iraq incursion.

Look at the mess that is Obamacare. Does anyway remember the tricks and deals used by the Obama administration to jam the ACA through Congress. Remember that Federal employees, including Senators, were supposed to be enrolled in Obamacare. What happened to that? Speaking about President Obama, what about Benghazi, his “red line” in Syria, and the rise of ISIS? Just imagine the furor if Trump and Hegseth experienced such disasters.

Look at the Biden administration. Why didn’t anyone call Biden an egomaniac for thinking he could manage a second term? Look at the immigration disaster. What motivated him to open the borders? Can you believe that in 2024 the Democratic candidates were Kamela Harris, and Tim Walz, especially when you look at the massive welfare fraud in Minnesota and other blue states? What qualifications did they have other than massive egos.

Was Trump wrong about the failures of politicians in both parties to put country ahead of their own egos and personal ambitions?

It is interesting to note that practically everything the Democrats blame Trump for doing, they have done themselves. They call him a dictator when he issues executive orders, but Obama said all he needed to govern was a pen and a phone. They say he wants to abolish the Senate filibuster, but progressives urged Biden to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices. Democrats say he seeks revenge on his detractors, but they are proven masters of that tactic.

Nothing will stop “no Trumpers” from hating the President. They have seemingly been inoculated from giving the President one iota of credit for anything. The other day someone said that if Trump were to fight Cancer, Democrats would be in favor of Cancer.


It is not egomania to want credit where credit is due, and to want recognition for a job well done. Let's stop talking about ego and concentrate on the issues.


###

Mark Twain: First Impressions and Second Thoughts

My wife and I recently read and enjoyed Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, a wonderful read full of Twain's characteristic humor and great story telling. It is an account of a trip he took in 1867 on a steamboat full of what he called pious Protestant American pilgrims anxious to explore the Old World, especially the Holy Land. I recommend the book highly to anyone interested in American history, but do not intend to write a review here. I just want to reproduce an episode that I found illustrated a universal truth. 

While in the Holy Land a few of the pilgrims took a side trip to the desolate Dead Sea. It turned out to be a hot and exhausting journey even on horseback. Afterwards, the weary travelers found an overnight refuge in a lonely monastery. Below is Twain's account of that episode in which his first impressions of the monks were altered by actual experience, a lesson for us all. It starts with a devastating critique but ends with appreciation.

***********************

Some of those men have been shut up there for thirty years. In all that dreary time they have not heard the laughter of a child or the blessed voice of a woman; they have seen no human tears, no human smiles; they have known no human joys, no wholesome human sorrows. In their hearts are no memories of the past, in their brains no dreams of the future. All that is lovable, beautiful, worthy, they have put far away from them; against all things that are pleasant to look upon, and all sounds that are music to the ear, they have barred their massive doors and reared their relentless walls of stone forever. They have banished the tender grace of life and left only the sapped and skinny mockery. Their lips are lips that never kiss and never sing; their hearts are hearts that never hate and never love; their breasts are breasts that never swell with the sentiment, “I have a country and a flag.” They are dead men who walk.

I set down these first thoughts because they are natural—not because they are just or because it is right to set them down. It is easy for book-makers to say “I thought so and so as I looked upon such and such a scene”—when the truth is, they thought all those fine things afterwards. One’s first thought is not likely to be strictly accurate, yet it is no crime to think it and none to write it down, subject to modification by later experience. These hermits are dead men, in several respects, but not in all; and it is not proper, that, thinking ill of them at first, I should go on doing so, or, speaking ill of them I should reiterate the words and stick to them. No, they treated us too kindly for that. There is something human about them somewhere. They knew we were foreigners and Protestants, and not likely to feel admiration or much friendliness toward them. But their large charity was above considering such things. They simply saw in us men who were hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and that was sufficient. They opened their doors and gave us welcome. They asked no questions, and they made no self-righteous display of their hospitality. They fished for no compliments. They moved quietly about, setting the table for us, making the beds, and bringing water to wash in, and paid no heed when we said it was wrong for them to do that when we had men whose business it was to perform such offices. We fared most comfortably, and sat late at dinner. We walked all over the building with the hermits afterward, and then sat on the lofty battlements and smoked while we enjoyed the cool air, the wild scenery and the sunset. One or two chose cosy bed-rooms to sleep in, but the nomadic instinct prompted the rest to sleep on the broad divan that extended around the great hall, because it seemed like sleeping out of doors, and so was more cheery and inviting. It was a royal rest we had.

When we got up to breakfast in the morning, we were new men. For all this hospitality no strict charge was made. We could give something if we chose; we need give nothing, if we were poor or if we were stingy. The pauper and the miser are as free as any in the Catholic Convents of Palestine. I have been educated to enmity toward every thing that is Catholic, and sometimes, in consequence of this, I find it much easier to discover Catholic faults than Catholic merits. But there is one thing I feel no disposition to overlook, and no disposition to forget: and that is, the honest gratitude I and all pilgrims owe, to the Convent Fathers in Palestine. Their doors are always open, and there is always a welcome for any worthy man who comes, whether he comes in rags or clad in purple. The Catholic Convents are a priceless blessing to the poor. A pilgrim without money, whether he be a Protestant or a Catholic, can travel the length and breadth of Palestine, and in the midst of her desert wastes find wholesome food and a clean bed every night, in these buildings. Pilgrims in better circumstances are often stricken down by the sun and the fevers of the country, and then their saving refuge is the Convent. Without these hospitable retreats, travel in Palestine would be a pleasure which none but the strongest men could dare to undertake. Our party, pilgrims and all, will always be ready and always willing, to touch glasses and drink health, prosperity and long life to the Convent Fathers of Palestine.

###

2025 Review

 

I’ve learned from experience not to make predictions or resolutions at the New Year. But there is no harm in looking back over the past year and trying to assess whether it was a good year or not. In my opinion I rate 2025 as a good to very good year. Here are some reasons.

The World did not come to an End.

There are still real problems facing the world today but 2025 turned out to be a pretty good year despite dire predictions following the Trump victory. War still goes on in Ukraine but no one can say that the Trump administration has not tried to broker a peace. For the time being, the war in Gaza is over, and the Iranian nuclear program has been derailed. Despite threatening gestures China did not invade Taiwan.

President Trump has also brokered a number of peace deals, and the U.S. military must be given credit not only for the destruction of the Iranian nuclear sites, but also for the weakening of Iranian surrogates in the Middle East. 

The United States did not go down the Drain.

Predictions of doom did not materialize after Donald Trump was sworn in as President in 2025. Somehow, the nation has survived his first year as President. Despite unprecedented and vitriolic hatred on the part of his enemies, President Trump and his administration have chalked up a number of achievements. I said at the beginning of his first term that it would be wise to see what Trump does as President rather than obsess over his words and tweets. I think this still holds true today.

In his second term President Trump seems to have put together a skilled and experienced set of advisors at the Cabinet level and on down. It appears as if adults and not ideologues are now in vital government offices. It would be hard for anyone to deny that Marco Rubio has done a good job as Secretary of State, or Scott Bessent has done a good job at the Treasury. More than anything else, Trump is an active and energetic President. He is out there every day answering questions from all sides. In this important respect he is the opposite of his predecessor.

The Stock Market hit an all-time high.  

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 14%. The tech heavy NASDAQ gained more than 20%, and most global markets also hit record highs. Stock market gains benefit everyone, not just wealthy capitalists. Retirement plans, both public and private, are primarily invested in the stock market. Employees of profitable companies also get higher bonuses. President Trump cannot be given all the credit for this economic boom but his election did not cause the economy to collapse. So far Trump's tariff policies have not produced the dire results predicted by his opponents in politics or the media. 

Despite unanimous Democrat opposition, the Republican Congress passed a Tax Reform Bill. Although it is still too early to tell, it would appear that the bill will benefit low income workers more than the well to do. With the increased standard deduction those living at or below the poverty level will pay little or no income tax, and most Seniors will see a reduction in the tax on their Social Security benefits. Eliminating fraud and waste also benefits those in real need.

Inflation seems under control. 

During President Trump's first administration Democratic opponents never tired of complaining about income inequality, but in 2025 they switched to an affordability mantra. My wife tells me that prices are up at the supermarket, but she also noticed that gas is cheaper at the pump. Now that winter is here consumers will also see a marked decrease in the cost of their home heating oil. In 2023 during the Biden administration I paid $6.50 per gallon for home heating oil. That's $6500 for 1000 gallons. This year my price is capped at about $3.00 per gallon, and so our home heating cost will only be $3000. Interestingly, the price is down to what it was in the first year of Trump's first administration. In the first three years of the Biden administration my oil price cap was $6.50, $4.94, and $5.04. Why didn't anyone talk about affordability then? 

I compared my electricity and water bills and they are practically the same this year as they were last year. The cost is remarkably cheap considering the essential importance of electricity and water in our daily lives. I was even able to switch our cell phone carrier and reduce our monthly bill from $125 to $70. The new carrier even threw in two new smart phones (I hated to part with my old dumb phone), as well as $650 in Costco bucks. Competition is still the best way to keep costs down.

I really wonder about affordability concerns when I see the following:

The LA Dodgers won the World Series and the cheapest seat in their ballpark was around $800 and the stands were packed. Prices for playoff games in Yankee Stadium were similar. The cheapest seat in Madison Square Garden for a Knick game is around $200 but people in court side seats pay up to $13000 for even a meaningless regular season game. When cameras pan the fans in these expensive seats, most appear to be young men. Are they the same ones who can't afford to get married and start a family?

Of course, anyone's evaluation of 2025 will probably be based mainly on personal and family considerations. Despite old age health concerns last year, by the end of the year my wife and I were in relatively good shape for our age. In addition, our children and grandchildren seem to be doing well, and we are even expecting a third great-grandchild in Texas in 2026. Personally, it was a good year and we have much to be thankful for.

Speaking of thanks, I found the lovely and poignant song "Thanks for the Memory" on Youtube last year. It was sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross back in 1938 in an otherwise awful film, but it is amazing to watch the two performers put over the song that would become Bob Hope's signature for the rest of his long career. Click on this link or watch below. 

Happy New Year!