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A Silent Eulogy: Late But Heartfelt
Is it possible that a eulogy can take forty-one years to deliver? The dreaded answer is yes. I know because I spoke that eulogy…silently, silently so that only I heard the words. It was a rambling prayer over a heart-breaking death. I knew the young man who had died. In truth, I was with him…
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The Tomato Place And The Perfect Man List
This is the coldest night of our trip. After complaining about the heat and humidity of Florida, we’re shivering in the chilly air a few miles south of Vicksburg…still alongside Highway 61. My trusty thermometer tells me it’s 37 degrees just fifteen inches behind me and through the thin wall of the R-pod. I push…
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Out On Highway 61
You leave todays newspaper unread on the table next to your front door. A dozen flies buzz around the hole in your window screen next to the formica table in your kitchen. They get in despite the wad of toilet paper you use to plug the hole. You walk home from a bar. You weren’t…
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Dark Roads And Distant Lights
So much of Florida is simply and without question, beautiful. The beaches come to mind. The wetlands of the Everglades are near the top of the list. The seemingly endless forests of the Ocala National Forest are a reminder of what Florida once looked like before Disney, Developers and Big Sugar got their hands on…
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To Let: Site # 143/ A Farewell To The Sunshine State
[As I write this post, Site #143 is occupied] On December 30, 2015, around noon, the radio in our red Ford Escape will begin to emit static. It will crackle and hiss as my favorite country music station fades in strength. Fort Myers will be receding, falling away into the south…into the muggy soupy haze.…
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Christmas, 2015
On a Christmas Day, we were mushing our way over the Dawson Trail. Talk of your cold! through the parka’s fold, it stabbed like a driven nail. If our eyes we’d close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn’t see; It wasn’t much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee. …
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Holiday Lights On Holiday Nights: A Visit To The Edison/Ford Estates
[The Banyan tree with a bronze of Edison standing guard] We arrived about thirty-five minutes before sunset. Heading for the admission window, we passed the largest Banyan tree in Florida. There was a family on the path in front of us. I heard the mother: “Isn’t that amazing that this is one tree?” “Not really,”…
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The Lights On The Palm Trees
A few minutes ago, I was driving along Summerlin Road to get to the Java Coffee Cafe before they closed. I don’t normally drink an iced coffee at 6:10 pm on a Sunday night, or any night for that matter. I really came here to use the stronger WiFi signal that the Outlet Mall provides…
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Coal For Christmas
I am a grandfather now, feeling every ache and sadness of my sixty-eighth year. The stories that my father told me about his father have taken on new meanings. I’m the old one now. I am the carrier of the family history. When a recollection of a family event comes to mind, be it a…
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A Day For A Splash Of Rum
The Ancient Mariner is home from his lonely voyage. He’s waiting beside the tavern door to tell his tale. The Old Man is back from the Sea…did he win the fight with the great fish? The story of my journey to being a sailor is over…for now. I have completed the final task which was…
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patrickjegan 