Category: Melancholy Thoughts
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On a Night Like This
‘I remember it was on a night very much like this…’ —Words spoken around 10,000 campfires by a billion storytellers for a million years. I found myself staring at the clouds drifting slowly past the quarter moon. In these early days of autumn, it should be a little cooler, but it was a mild evening.…
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When Life Ends: Still Rich: Still Poor
One of my pastimes is to wander cemeteries. The older the better–and more interesting. The artwork on gravestones is full of imagery and symbolism. I’ve been in classic world-famous cemeteries like Pere Lachaise, in Paris, Evergreen, in my hometown and quaint very old graveyards that sit in the quiet spaces beside churches in England. And,…
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Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve VII: “Beyond The Campfire”
The autumn leaves are rustling in the chilly breeze–the chilly breeze that is coming from the lake–drifting through the trees with the promise or a threat of the coming winter. He threw another split piece of hardwood on the already warm fire. His wife looks at him when the pack of coyotes begin to howl.…
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Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve VI: “A Light Hearted Look at Demonic Bloodsuckers”
There are creatures that can crawl up a wall, head down, in an upside down position (like a spider), turn themselves into bats, rats, moths, mists, and clouds of dust. They ‘live’ by sucking the blood of a live person. We call these demon-like beings vampires. They would not make very good neighbors, although, I’ve…
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Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve V: “Cardboard Tombstones and The Greatest Horror Movie Ever Made”
Since it’s creeping, day by day and night by night, toward Halloween, it’s time to consider the movies. I’m not talking “Mary Poppins” either (although dancing with penguins can be pretty scary). No, I’m talking of the Great Horror Movies of the Century. Some of the most blood-curdling scenes on film were written by gifted…
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Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve IV: “Do Ghosts Dream in Black and White?”
I broke away from the other kayakers. They were intent on finding a trail that was obscured and hidden in a small cove. It was supposed to begin on a tiny stretch of sand and among the blueberry bushes. It led to a small body of water called Loon Pond (some called it Lost Pond).…
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Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve: II “What Lies Beyond?”
If you walked this path. If you dared to enter this forest…who would you encounter? What would you encounter? Are there leaves on the branches, ever? Do wildflowers grow along the trail, ever? Was this photo taken at noon? at midnight? Are you dreaming? Having a nightmare? Or are you fully awake, your senses alert…
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Along The Red Tavern Road
In the northwest edge of the Adirondack Park is a lonely road. It winds through the forest connecting a highway intersection with a small hamlet that sits beside a waterfall and a small dam. This is a place founded on the lumber industry. Now, it’s a country for hunters, trappers, snowmobilers, fisherman and retired…
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John Tumbledown’s House
I pushed the button on the camera and heard the shutter snap. I captured my son midway through his pirouette in the field, in the field in front of the old farmhouse. Something caught my eye just as the mirror flipped up in the camera. Something in the farmhouse. I lowered the Pentax slowly from…
patrickjegan 