Category: Memories
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A Fair Swap: The Excursionist I
On Friday, February 1, Mariam and I will be exchanging this: [The Hudson River on January 26, 2018] for this: [The Yorkshire Dales, England] It’s a pretty fine change of scenery if I do say so myself. Once upon a time, back in the day, I loved winter. How could one not love winter…when you’re…
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The Ring
My left hand is ringless. The wedding band lies on a tray on the dresser in our bedroom, along with assorted jewelry. Is this the sign of a marriage gone south? Hardly. The only thing that would be going south right now is my wife and I. Because outside the wind howls and the temperature…
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The Holiday Card
[What follows is pure fiction. It is a short story that I hope you will enjoy. It’s not funny, but it’s what I wanted to write. Please don’t read anything into this post.] It was during a brief April thaw, when a chance breeze blew the snow and a few minutes of sunlight melted the…
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For Me? It Was a Hard Days Night
[Source: Google search.] There were no classes scheduled for that Monday. It was parent/teacher conference day at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut. I was assigned to meet the parents of my students in an office close to the front entrance. I sat at the head of a large conference table made of a dark wood.…
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Bob Takes A Bow
[Source: Google search.] “I’ve got nothing more to live up to.” –Dylan This is not going to be the usual Bob Dylan fan blog. I’ve something special to relate. More on that later. I’m sitting in what is usually the warmest room in our home, the dining room. It must be the two sets of…
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Autumn And Gravestones
[Sitting and thinking at Forest Cemetery, St. Regis Falls, NY.] Now that there is six inches of fresh snow on the ground and the trees are bare and the world outside our picture window is monochromatic, I can admit that I miss the late summer, the coolness of autumn days and the color of the…
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My Father’s Books
The 1950’s & 1960’s On Sunday nights, in the house at 420 Front Street in Owego, NY, there was usually an empty chair in our living room. My mother and three older brothers would gather around an oversized wooden console that housed a Black & White TV. The Ed Sullivan Show was about to come…
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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.…
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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,…
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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.…
