Category: History
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The Peanut
Georgia, Georgia The whole day through (The whole day through) Just an old sweet song Keeps Georgia on my mind. —Hoagy Carmichael (1930) (Source: LyricFind) Yes, we’ve left Florida and are now trying to survive in the oppressive heat of Macon, Georgia. For the last 100 miles or so I’ve had peanuts on my mind.…
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Late Night Thoughts on Connie Francis
Spring and summer were still weeks away, although summer seems to permanently exist here in Florida. But still… I was sitting in the lanai making notes on developing and writing and publishing a blog about music and the importance of Connie Francis. We had just been to the beach and my head was full of…
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Down By The Sea
I knew the man’s story. I had read his many blogs but the campfire was the place where he untied his cachet of stories. There would be no campfires in Florida, not this time of year. Instead, I would have to find shade beneath a palmetto palm to study his photograph. I stretched the screen…
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The Tragedy of the Commons
But the darkest scriptures of the mountains are illumined with bright passages of love that never fail to make themselves felt when one is alone. –John Muir There is irony lurking just below the surface of this blog. Irony, youth, pleasant times and not so pleasant times. There’s quietness and beauty sublime. And, dogs. It…
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Adulthood Rising
I have a hard time learning languages. Some people have an ability to pick up German, Portuguese, Farsi or Russian with ease. High School French was the first of my stumbling blocks. I used to “get sick” in the morning to avoid Mrs. Lowe’s first period freshman French class. I tried…I really tried…to understand the…
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The Little Boy And The Big Canoe: A Memory

[Not my brothers canoe. But you get the point. Source: Google Search] Canoes were always a part of my boyhood. Our family was definitely zero-octane. It’s all very logical given the fact that our property at 420 Front St., Owego, NY, my childhood home, happened to have the Susquehanna River in our backyard. And, we…
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A Gathering: A Farewell
The time for tears has come and gone. You passed from our lives a year ago. It’s sad Nance, that you won’t see your son on a hilltop be married to an amazing woman, Kristin. They moved back to Binghamton, the virus, and other events delayed a final gathering in your name until this day,…
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Reunion
[Source: Egan Family Archives.] I’m working on my family tree using Ancestry.com. As my son has said: “It’s addictive.” When my father passed away in 2004, there were boxes of old photographs. Many. of course, were unlabeled. My father would dig this photo out of wherever he stored it and name almost 75% of those…
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Too Old, Too Soon: Two Friends
“I want to go for a ride,” said the car that had a teal fender. “You can’t. You’re a mess. Your engine hasn’t run since the early sixties. A car also needs four wheels and you need three. Your ride isn’t going my friend. This is going to be where you will stay until someone…