Category: Memories
-
Coal For Christmas
My father grew up poor. Not the kind of poor where he would walk through ten inches of snow barefoot or go from house to house asking for bread. Just the kind of poor that would keep his father one step ahead of the rent collector. His parents provided the best they could, but, by…
-
How Three Moments From An Evening With Bob Dylan And His Band Will Stay With Me
It was December 1, 2014. The mild afternoon had turned into a chilly evening. A light rain was falling on the gritty sidewalks of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The marquee of the Beacon Theater on 75th Street told the story of the next few hours in my life: TONIGHT-AN EVENING WITH BOB DYLAN…
-
Not Just Another Skyscraper
The Empire State Building has been linked to me, in one way or another, since before I was born. That may sound a bit confusing…but stay with me. I am an American male, raised to hide emotional reactions. But, I can say that the building has made me cry on more than one occasion. When…
-
Where are the Corn Girls of Summer?
In northern New York State, in late summer, hot sunny days are not uncommon. It was the height of the corn season. I practically left skid marks on Rte. 37 when I saw the corn stand to my right. I had once been scolded by the robotic female voice on my GPS about making illegal…
-
Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve XVI: “Is My Childhood Home Haunted?”
Sometime in 2005, I handed the keys of my childhood home to the new owners. That action was very difficult for me. This was the only home I had ever known from birth to the time I went off to college. But, even in the years since 1965, when I hopped into a car and…
-
Waiting For All Hallow’s Eve XV: “The Ghost Who Called My Name-A True Story”
What I am about to tell you actually happened to me. But, do I have the absolute right to say that a “ghost” called my name? No, I cannot. Declaring it an actual spirit from beyond the grave, requires scientific proof…and I cannot offer you any. But, I have no other word to describe the…
-
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.…
-
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.…
-
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…
patrickjegan 