Category: Childhood
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Dark Odds Indeed
[The Nobel Laureate. Robert Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan. Source: Google Search.] Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. ~~Henry David Thoreau Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter, will be eighty-three years old on May 24. As I write this I realize that that’s old. True, not old to many people who are…
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Is My Enchiridion Indulgentiarum Account Balanced?
[Purgatory. Credit: Shown Above] Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. ~~Patrick Egan Fantastical Essays v. 1 (2024) In Saranac Lake, New York, on a warm and humid day in 2017, an elderly woman crossed Church Street safely because of something Sister John James said to me in 1957. This was no small feat because…
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Anemonia Keeps Me Awake
Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out. ~~Richter [The Berlew Family Reunion. Orange, PA. September 6, 1926. Photo: Egan Family Archives.] I don’t think it rained that day. There are no clouds in the sky. I should know. I’ve crawled inside this photo more than once over the years. One…
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How To Bond With Your Grandson Whilst Assembling a Leonardo da Vinci Ornithopter Kit
[The kit in question. Photo is mine.] As Mariam and I were sitting on our teal sectional in our comfortably down-sized apartment in New York City, we began planning for a trip. It seems like we just got back from two months in Europe, but this was a special trip indeed. Due to factors out…
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Yesterday, Two Loves Walked Out Of My Door
One of my loves walked out of my building and out of my life. It was a lovely late morning. I was handed $50.00. We parted with only a few words. Then, around 4:00 pm, a second love departed. I was left hold $150.00. Cash. Unmarked bills. I know what your thinking, but it’s far…
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A Dialectical Critique of “Teenager in Love”
[Dion. Photo probably taken in the 1960’s. Source: Mancrushes.com] If you ask me, far too many words have been written about the hidden meanings and subtleties of Bertolt Brecht’s Mack the Knife or Pirate Jenny. Granted the Weimar Era in Germany (1918-1933) were pretty wacky times. But lyrics like: “You gentlemen can watch while I’m…
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The Moonflower
[The White Moon Flower. Ipomoea alba. Photo: Google Search] Nature is an Aeolian Harp, a musical instrument, whose tones are the re-echo of higher strings within us. ~~Novalis This is a true story. It happened to me during my last few years before leaving home to attend college in the South. All of it took…
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My 600th Blog: Lat. 24 N./Long. 81 W.
[Ernest Hemingway’s typewriter. Located at the Hemingway House Museum, Key West, Florida. Photo is mine.] Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. ~~Ernest Hemingway I am sitting in the air-conditioned Monroe Country Public Library (Key West Branch). It’s quiet, cool and has a WiFi that takes no prisoners. I…
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To Elias on His 10th Birthday
May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung And may you stay Forever Young ~~Bob Dylan Forever Young Dear Elias, You have been the very best grandson anyone could ask for. I remember when your mother called me with the news that she was expecting a child. It seems like…
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