Category: Melancholy Thoughts
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A Solitary Child in the Woods
You won’t find it in the guidebooks. You probably won’t find it at all without sitting in a dusty room of a Historical Society and doing your homework. Not many people know it exists. I found it because I had a decades-old topographic map in my possession. And still, I found it by accident. The…
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To Betty: An Alpha and Omega Life
On a Tuesday Betty sat in the passenger’s seat of her car in our driveway. Her husband, Bob, was behind the wheel. They took our Netflix DVD (we share an account) and drove home. On Wednesday, she became unresponsive at her kitchen table. She suffered a stroke. On Friday, she was in the ICU for…
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The Robin Flies Away From Us: Some Late Night Thoughts
The pain must have been crushing. What else can make someone do whatever Robin Williams did Monday morning in California? Let’s consider clowns. The face of Comedy and Tragedy are on the same coin. It flips in the air and lands with a smile or a frown. With Robin Williams, it landed differently at different…
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The Fortune Teller on the Wall
Her eyes do not see my face, my grey beard, my grey hair or my imperfect eyesight. No, but she can see my very soul. She can speak to me without moving her porcelain lips. I feel that she can see my past and my future. Will she tell me why my heart…
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The Stranger at the Other End of Front Street
I can feel the soft cool breeze blowing through my room from the Susquehanna River behind me. I am sitting at a small desk writing this post. My wife is sleeping deeply on the bed to my right. I am facing Front Street. The trucks speed past the town on the Southern Tier Expressway (Future…
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The Resurrection of Forgotten Love
In my youth, I loved with an intensity that burned hot and blinding-white, like a strip of Phosphorus. It consumed me and took control of my personal and private self. All my waking moments were devoted to devising ways to make this love, love me in return. In this vain attempt, I failed. How can…
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My Right Chest, My Ringtone and a Cemetery
Just this afternoon, I found myself in a cemetery. For those who are keen on details, it was Saint Alphonsus Cemetery in Tupper Lake, NY. The skies were blue with patchy cumulus clouds; a departure from the thunderstorms we’ve been experiencing. I love to stroll in cemeteries. Usually, they are quiet places excellent for the…
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The Moonflower
The heavenly fragrance of moon flower permeates the air in the whole garden. –The Flower Expert website In the summer of 1965 I was busy preparing to leave my home, family and friends and go off to college. Actually, only part of what I just said is true. I was going away to college, that’s…
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Waving My Way Out Of Purgatory
I’m absolutely convinced that I’m going to Purgatory. I know for certain that I’m going to Purgatory. Even my high school girlfriend told me I was going to Purgatory. “Why am I going there?” I would ask her. “Because.” She would reply. “I saw the way you looked at me just now.” “But I didn’t…
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The Ball: A Fable
So you want to hear a story, is that right? Yes. Okay, then I’ll tell a story to you…even you, over there in the corner. Come closer. The boys did as they were told. A story? Well, if you don’t mind I’d rather call it a Fable. That is if you don’t really mind. Fables…
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