“Have you seen the pond when it’s drained?” he asked. “Drained?” His eyes went wide, and he held his hands up. “Oh. Well do I ever have some things to tell you!” We had returned to Mammoth Spring, having stopped here on our way north two summers ago. We had just taken a selfie when […]
Yearly Archives: 2026
Smoke on the Water
Sat, 18 Jul 2026, 08:10 PM (-06:00)
The view from the hill on the lake as the northern forests burn.
Putting the A in AI
Tue, 14 Jul 2026, 11:45 AM (-06:00)
The original prompt: How can I make the height of a row in a tabularray table the minimum possible size? It’s a simple question. Finding an answer is not. This is where AI tools shine brightly. Old-school online search would lead to dead-ends, consume a lot of time, and only maybe reveal an answer. The […]
White River Morning
Fri, 10 Jul 2026, 09:12 AM (-06:00)
Breakfast is over. We have no place to be. We gave ourselves three luxurious nights beside the White River this year — the journey is the journey. The morning fog is gone. Boats of fishermen labor up river against the swift current and then drift swiftly back. The water level is up — the corps […]
Bull Shoals – White River State Park
Thu, 9 Jul 2026, 09:45 AM (-06:00)
Bull Shoals—White River State Park, northern Arkansas The bumblebees like the flowering weeds on the hill beside the river (“weeds” — ha!). When they land, they bend the long stalks so that they almost reach the ground, and then they move on to the next one. American Robins are singing in the canopy. And (of […]
To Go Swimming
Fri, 19 Jun 2026, 08:07 PM (-06:00)
From last fall… It’s Sunday afternoon. The sky is blue, and the air is cool — a welcome relief from the heat that refused to yield to October. It is cool, and the sun is dancing in the canopies of the trees. should go swimming. This is usually the wettest month in Central Texas, but […]
They Can Do That
Fri, 19 Jun 2026, 11:48 AM (-06:00)
A few months ago… Two students walk into the room. One of them has a question. The other is evidently there for moral support. The first student, who is in Precalculus, asks about an upcoming quiz. I point at the whiteboard. She turns to see a sketch of a unit circle — previous work from […]
hallucination #123
Thu, 18 Jun 2026, 08:28 AM (-06:00)
The code doesn’t compile. I tell the AI about the error. When I compile the code, I get this error: … And I show it the confusing details. To which the AI responds Ah, that is completely my fault. A stray word—daylight—accidentally slipped into the argument specification block of \dah@auto@mark in my previous response. What!? […]
conjunction
Tue, 16 Jun 2026, 09:46 PM (-06:00)
As viewed looking west across the street from the driveway…