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Pushing Chalk: Recollections on a Classroom Life
Hey, teacher leave them kids alone. -Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall” 1979 “What is a rock?” I actually asked this question of my Earth & Space Science class of ninth graders. It was probably my third year of teaching. I was in a public school near Wilkes-Barre, PA. There were thirty kids in…
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The Man Who Planned His Own Funeral
People plan for births, for retirements, proms, dates, Thanksgiving dinners and Oscar parties. So, it’s only logical that one plans their own funeral. This is not a new idea. The whole point is to take the burden of the eschatological events off the shoulders of those that remain behind. It’s my feeling that those who…
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A Visit To A Foreign Land
Life was getting a little repetitious at Rainbow Lake, here in the heart of the Northern Adirondacks. My office Indoor/Outdoor weather station seemed to be having a battery problem. The outside temperature indicator sometimes showed no digits at all. Not wanting to check the red-liquid filled thermometer nailed to the post under the deck, I…
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This Old House
There is so much to be done when your last surviving parent dies. My father passed away nearly ten years to the day and I can remember so much of the aftermath that my brother, wife and I had to deal with. The lawyers, the probate, the will, endless medical records, phone calls, funeral arrangement…
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The Night They Pulled The Plug in Louisiana
Originally posted on patrickjegan: It was a long time ago–perhaps the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It was the wrong time, the wrong place and the wrong evening to be holding a pair of tickets to a Steppenwolf concert. I attended college in the deep south in the mid-1960’s. In itself, there’s nothing strange about…
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The Night They Pulled The Plug in Louisiana
It was a long time ago–perhaps the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It was the wrong time, the wrong place and the wrong evening to be holding a pair of tickets to a Steppenwolf concert. I attended college in the deep south in the mid-1960’s. In itself, there’s nothing strange about that. The problem was…
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The Scrabble Game at the End of the World
This title of this post is something of a misnomer. On an oblate spheroid like the earth, there is no “end”. It’s been said that an ant crawling around on a basketball can do so forever…infinity…it’s just stuck on one dimension, but still. Don’t get me wrong, I think the concept of the “end of…
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Dad
On this day, January 24, my father was born. I don’t know the day of the week or the time of day. All I know for sure is that it was 100 years ago. My guess is that it was a home birth. My grandfather, Michael, would likely have been pacing the floor of their…
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Losing King–Losing Thea
The email from my daughter, Erin, came on the evening of January 16. It’s title was short and full of foreboding: “Thea’s gone.” A few hours earlier she had written that she and her husband had taken Thea to the “doggie hospice”. Now this. She described how her big black lab mix, Thea, had to…
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The Maltese Stylus
I looked out of the port-hole and saw the contrails of 757’s heading east, toward LA or Frisco, most likely. So, good for them, I thought, let them get somewhere fast. Me? I’m happy right here, in the small cabin of a tramp steamer heading straight into Nowheresvilleport. Once I get there, I’m heading for…
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