Category: Melancholy Thoughts
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Travels 18: The Call of the Desert: or If I Can’t Stand the Heat, What Am I Doing in Death Valley?
A man who refuses to acknowledge his god is unwise to set foot in the desert. Count Anteoni from “The Garden of Allah” (1936) I think it’s the isolation that attracts me to the austere places on the planet. I love the North because of the intense bone-crystalizing cold. The water-logged plants and animals without…
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The Man in the Steel Armor: A Monologue
Some would think that it would be a boring existence to stand for decades in a plexiglass box wearing a suit of steel armor. Let me assure you that it is far from the truth. I find it fascinating to watch the gawkers, the curious, the historians, the lovers and the caretakers as they stroll…
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Epitaphs: Part IV
A few simples words about Mortality It was a damp and warm day in mid-August. I stood over the gravesite and heard the locusts singing in the nearby fields. The stone was smooth, given its age and I had to drop to my knees to read the delicate epitaph on the lower half of the…
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The Whistle-Stop Girl of Montana
The gentle swaying of the coach of the train was lulling me to sleep. I had spent the night at Union Station in Chicago waiting for the early morning departure of the Great Northern, bound for Seattle. It was a long lay-over and I was tired. After watching the western suburbs of the Windy City…
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Epitaphs: Part III
What Think You? Well, here’s another epitaph for you to ponder. This particular one is very special to me. It is located in Evergreen Cemetery, Owego, NY. This is the town where I grew up. The cemetery was designed (like many in the 19th century) to be a place to wander, reflect or just admire…
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What Will Be Written About You?
“My Childhood days bring back sad reflections Of happy days so long ago. My boyhood friends and my own relations. Have all passed on like the melting snow.” (Traditional.) As recorded by Van Morrison. I have a gift for you. It isn’t wrapped in gilded paper and it does not have a magenta ribbon tied…
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Killing Me Softly With His Song
[WARNING: IF SAD SONGS MAKE YOU SADDER, THEN STOP READING NOW!] Before you shake your painted fingertips at me and call me “Mr. Doom and Gloom” (a girl-friend once did that), I’ll save you some time and energy. I have a great deal of Irish blood in my veins, I’m Black Irish and raised as…
