ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter

December 2025

  • Another New Year

    2025 is coming to a close. We survived the first year of Trump 2.0 by the skin of our teeth. But as a country, as a culture we are greatly diminished. It will take years to undo the damage already done. But in my heart I am afraid the damage is too consequential, too permanent. Read more

  • Thomas Merton

    My good friend Bob (who is also a writer and loyal follower of ClimbingSky) recently visited The Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky with his wife. The Trappist monastery was the home of Thomas Merton. It got me thinking about some of my favorite quotes from Merton. Here are a few that I think my fellow Read more

  • MUSIC MONDAY: Hank Jones – “Oh Look At Me Now”

    Last Monday I featured a Lester Young video with the great Hank Jones on piano. Jones is one of my favorite Jazz pianists. Here is a video of Jones playing “Oh Look At Me Now.” Enjoy! Read more

  • POETRY REVIEW: “Three Pieces on the Smoke of Autumn” by Carl Sandburg

    I have mentioned here before that I have a small collection of poems on my iPhone called “Poems in My Pocket.” They are poems that I reread again and again. One of these poems—and probably my favorite Carl Sandburg poem—is “Three Pieces on the Smoke of Autumn.” It is Sandburg at his best and most Read more

  • BOOK REVIEW: The Dead Shall Be Raised by George Bellairs

    George Bellairs was the nom de plume of Harold Blundell (1902–1982), a crime writer and bank manager born in Lancashire. This is the first of his works that I have read. The Dead Shall be Raised was first published in 1942. It begins with London-based Inspector Thomas Littlejohn going to spend a quiet Christmas holiday in the small town of Hatterworth where his Read more

  • FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY: Lester Young on Being Original

    “You gotta be original, man!” ~Lester Young Read more

  • THROWBACK THURSDAY: “Full Moon” by Robert Hayden

    Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over a a 15 year period for various blogs. This was first posted on December 24th, 2011. The recent full moon put me in mind of this well known poem by Robert Hayden. That is the way it is with familiar and favorite poems… you will suddenly Read more

  • BOOK REVIEW: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    I decided this Christmas to reread the familiar Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. I would guess that I last read it some 40-plus years ago. I wonder if there is a single work of fiction that has had more different adaptations of it filmed over the years. I highly doubt it. The familiar character of Scrooge has become (along with such literary characters as Sherlock Read more

  • Cozy Christmas Mysteries

    Christmas Eve Ghost Stories and Christmas Eve Murder Mysteries are a British tradition, but I am not sure they are such an American tradition. This year, as I was planning out ClimbingSky, I decided to try out this very British tradition myself. Since I need to work ahead to keep up my posting schedule, I Read more

  • MUSIC MONDAY: “Pennies from Heaven” by Lester Young

    Here is a great video of Prez playing with Bill Harris(trombone) Hank Jones (piano) Ray Brown (bass) and Buddy Rich (drums). A great way to start a Monday, or any day of the week. Ivey Divey, man! Read more