Category: North Country Life
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A Dark And Sad Anniversary
[Steve’s grave. Monroe, Louisiana. Photo is mine.] The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. ~~ L. P. Hartley On Friday, November 22, I will step away from whatever social engagement I may be involved in…and I will look up to a cloud or maybe a single star. And I will remember.…
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Is My Enchiridion Indulgentiarum Account Balanced?
[Purgatory. Credit: Shown Above] Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. ~~Patrick Egan Fantastical Essays v. 1 (2024) In Saranac Lake, New York, on a warm and humid day in 2017, an elderly woman crossed Church Street safely because of something Sister John James said to me in 1957. This was no small feat because…
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Uneasy Walks
“Sometimes the fear won’t go away, so you’ll have to do it afraid.” ~~Anon [Image from Ghosts. Myths. Folklore. Legends. Facebook Group] The information regarding the image above is from a subgroup (All That’s Interesting) of the FB group mentioned in the credits. Confused? Let’s move forward. This is about the Dark Watchers–and a few…
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Lost in a World of Cardboard
box noun A container. –American Heritage Dictionary Call it propriety. Call it embarrassment. Whatever you wish to call it, I’m not going to reveal, through iPhone photos the extent of the cardboard that has found a place in our apartment. We used Westside Movers (the very same company that moved us away from the City…
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A Young Man’s Backpack
“To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live.” –Tenzing Norgay Stuff has to go. Lots of stuff has to go. When you relocate from a 3-bedroom lakeside house to a 1-bedroom apartment on Riverside Drive in New York, you soon realize how easy it was to gather stuff. And now, much of the…
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Dan & Daughter At Rest
My father is hidden behind everything I am. –Adrienne Egan “Danny Boy” (From a high school essay) I have long dreaded what was about to take place. As I approached the shore of Long Pond, the memories began to weigh heavy on my heart. How often had I stood in the sand since the early…
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The Troll Who Cried
I began my walk to the Barnum Brook Bridge carrying an emotional load that nearly broke my already painful back. It was a warm and very muggy afternoon. There were grey clouds in the hazy sky. There were grey clouds in my mind, my soul and my heart. I was not dreading the Bridge like…
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The Pots of Potsdam
“I sing well when I am in the toilet, here I feel more comfortable” Don’t try this here, it’s a public one. –Anon. (Google Search) Did you ever wonder where toilet bowls go to die? I have. In truth, I’ve lost many a good night’s sleep pondering such questions. If you drive the roads of…
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Out Of The Woods
Goodbye’s too good a word, babe So I’ll just say “Fare thee well” –Bob Dylan “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” Look close. It’s hard to see. If you’re reading this post on a laptop, you’re out of luck. On a mobile device you can use your fingers to enlarge the photo. See the sign…
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Four Impossible Things Before 11:30 am
After every dark night, there is a bright day. –Anon. [Source: Google search] The Butterfly Effect Two mornings ago I woke up with an overwhelming feeling that I was immersed up to my neck in a bad case of The Butterfly Effect. I definitely felt I had a sensitive dependence on the fact that even…
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