ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter

  • 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

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “THE SANTA CLAUS BEAT” BY REX STOUT

    Rex Stout (1886-1975) is best known of course for his Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin Series. In total, Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 novellas or short stories featuring the pair between 1934 and 1975. I have read a lot of them. But certainly not all of them. “The Santa Claus Beat” was a complete surprise. Quite unlike Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “Who Killed Father Christmas?” by Patricia Moyes

    Patricia Moyes (1923-2000) was born in Dublin. She is best known for her Inspector Henry Tibbett Series. This is the first Moyes story that I think I have ever read. And it was a good one. I found it in the anthology Merry Murder. “Who Killed Father Christmas?” can best be described as sort of Read more

  • FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY: W.B. Yeats on Writing

    “I have desired, like every artist, to create a little world out of the beautiful, pleasant, and significant things of this marred and clumsy world….” ~ W. B. Yeats Read more

  • THROWBACK THURSDAY “In a Dark Time” by Theodore Roethke

    Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over a 15 year period for various blogs. This was first posted on December 02, 2012. The second day of December brings a foggy morning to the North Country. Out my back window only the black silhouettes of a few winter-bare trees and the nearest houses are visible. The rest Read more

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “Dead on Christmas Street” by John D. MacDonald

    It is estimated that John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) sold over 70 million books in his lifetime. He is best known, of course, for his Travis McGee Series. (I have read them all). Any legitimate list of the Best Crime/Suspense writers of the 20th Century would have to include MacDonald in the Top 5. Here are some quotes Read more

  • Cal Raleigh and Yankee Bias

    Cal Raleigh finished the season with 60 Home Runs. He managed to do this while he caught the third most innings of any catcher in the Major Leagues in 2025. In spite of all of that, the AL MVP award this year went to Yankees’ oaf, Aaron Judge. Modern baseball metrics are powerful tools, but they are not neutral. Read more

  • MUSIC MONDAY: “Simple Man” Lynard Skynard

    Each year that goes by I appreciate Lynard Skynard more and more. In fact, recently someone at work asked me the standard Boomer question: “Beatles or Stones?” My answer: Lynard Skynard, of course! Here is the perfect song for a Monday. Enjoy! Read more