Category: Memories
-
The Night Lauren Bacall Heard Me Cough
[Photo source: IMDb] I lived for almost thirty years on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It’s an artsy neighborhood. And it’s not uncommon to cross paths with famous people, most often actors. My wife was in the Blockbuster Video store, in line behind Michael J. Fox. “I think your next,” he said to Mariam.…
-
The Birch Tree Clock: An Update
After I posted the blog about a clock that my father made from a birch tree in our backyard in Owego, NY., I got some responses. Several people said that it would be a tribute to my father to restore the clock. Refurbish it. Make it come alive again. So, I did it. A friend,…
-
Sleep And The Birch Tree Clock
[Our Limelight Hydrangea.] I look at the clock. It’s 4:35 am. I can’t sleep. I begin another chapter in the book I’m reading. I go into the kitchen and eat a cracker. I sip some Tonic Water (it helps my leg cramps). I go back to bed. I can’t sleep. I take a little pill.…
-
Next Stop: Poughkeepsie
[Mariam awaits our train at Grand Central Station My weariness amazes. —Bob Dylan As Train #283 chugs northward, the Hudson River, on my left…its water the color of tan mud, is flowing south to enter New York harbor. It’s going home in a way. So are we. Almost one month ago we were aboard the…
-
Of Time and Distance: A Departing
[Corfe Castle] Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I sat on unmowed grass leaning against a stone wall. I was on the grounds of Corfe Castle in south Dorset. The mason who built my backrest had fitted the stones into their places over 1,000 years ago. There was still a strong sun in the west and…
-
Lancelot, The Spotless Starling And The Blogger
[Spotless Starling. Source: Google search.] I’m perched on a chimney near the Ashfield House B&B with my friend, Tristram. We’re Spotless Starlings. You can find us on page 303 of Collins Pocket Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. You might not find us in Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of America, but we’re in…
-
Yesterday Afternoon And An Afternoon Thirty-Three Years Ago
[The tomb of Joseph and Caroline Damer] Thirty-three years ago I parked a VW Polo in a small space a short distance from the village of Milton Abbas. I was an exchange teacher at a school in Dorset, England. A teacher friend told me that I must visit an Abbey near Milton Abbas. I was…
-
If I Was A Good Dog And My Time Came To Die, I’d Go To My Reward, England
Some years ago, when I wore a young man’s clothes, someone told me that when dogs get old and die, they go to The Dog Star. Now, as a man with gray hair, I know the truth. When dogs pass on, they go to England. When I was a child I had a dog. His…
-
An American In Brussels
Trust me. I can say a few words about how this grey-haired man is exhausted from what is only the early days of his European Tour. I was there, every minute…waiting for the train in Bruges and sitting in the hot humid air of Brussels Midi station wondering whether he should jump into a taxi…
patrickjegan 