patrickjegan

March 1, 2015

Going Down The River On A Winter Day

Aboard the Amtrak, Train #238. Bound for Penn Station, NYC I can’t sleep in this cramped seat. It’s 4A, the window with a view of the Hudson River. But there is no view. It’s white enough for sunglasses. I see West Point across the water, barely. I snap a photo with my iPad mini. It…

February 25, 2015

Dear Grandpa

Dear Grandpa, I thought I’d write to you today. It’s been such a long time since we had a chance to sit and talk about things. I have so many memories of you, I don’t know where to begin. It was so long ago. Remember when I was a little boy? You lived with Grandma…

February 21, 2015

The Postman Always Winks Twice

Sometime in the late 1990’s, my wife and I drove to Owego, NY to visit my aging father. My mum had passed away in 1992, so my dad was living quietly and alone as a widower in our big rambling family home on Front Street. Room by room and closet by closet, any objects or…

February 14, 2015

Forever and a Day

Absolutely nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever. There may be some things that last forever. One thing lasts forever. You’re waiting for me in the cafe. The place beside the old church and next to the cemetery. The only place in the city where I can sit next to the fire and feel warm…on…

February 11, 2015

The Pink Flamingos of the Pacific Northwest

I asked my daughter, Erin, about her opinion of pink flamingos. “They have their place,” she answered, without taking more than five seconds to think it over. That place was in a front yard, several blocks from her home in Orting, WA. My wife and I were walking back from a brief shopping trip to…

January 28, 2015

The Fabulous Life of a Published Author

Many writers dream of seeing their published works on the shelf of a bookstore. Think of the heady feeling of walking into a Barnes & Nobel and seeing your name and book among the thousands of bestsellers. That’s never been my goal in life. Selling books means you make money and making money means you move…

January 25, 2015

A Winter Tragedy in the Unforgiving North Country

This is a heartbreaking story of a misjudgment made 87 years ago today. The heart of the sadness is that this is a true event. In the summer of 2014, I was wandering through St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Chateaugay, New York. I was searching for certain headstones to photograph for ancestor-seekers that lived too far…

January 21, 2015

The Impossibly Long Life of a Snowflake

It’s a simple act of nature. A billion snowflakes drifting slowly earthward…sometimes rising, sometimes blown sideways…but always downward. If they each made a sound like a bird, someone stepping out onto a frozen porch in the North Country of the Adirondacks would be deafened. But each flake makes a sound only it can hear. It…

January 18, 2015

Ice Cold Beer

I got lost once on my way to buying a beer at a lonely bar. There’s a good story coming so don’t blink, look away or try to multi-task…or you’ll miss it. Being lost can mean many things to many people. You can say: “I’m lost” in the middle of calculus class. Or, you can…

January 15, 2015

An Ice Queen and Prometheus on a New York City Night

A month ago I wouldn’t be able to stand where I’m standing tonight. Impossible. Unless I was willing to share the same physical space with seven other people. I’m looking down at the skating rink at Rockefeller Center. Four weeks ago, thousands of tourists and locals were cramped in and around the small park that…