Category: North Country Life
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Winter
Old Nan: Oh my sweet summer child, what do you know about fear? Fear is for winter, when the snows fall one hundred feet deep. Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides for years and children are born and live and die, all in darkness. That is the time for fear, my…
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Mistakes
Sometimes a mistake can turn into a good thing…a lucky break. Sure odd things happen often like the 1969 and 1986 Mets. And why would anyone create mosquitos, gnats or Texas? These are called outliers. Such stuff happens out of the norm. Then there exists such things as COVID. I can”t explain except to say…
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Recipes For Disaster
It’s long been known that shoveling snow can kill people. Consider the picture below: When I was a little boy, I’d see an elder (usually a man) struggling with the foot or two of snow on his sidewalk. I figured the guy had to be really old…in his sixties at least. That was old. It…
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The Big One: Part 3
I’ve been dwelling and raving about The Big One for several days now. It finally arrived. The only problem is that we only were hit with an inch and a half. The Big One still has left my red snowblower untouched and shiny. The Big One fell on the area of my hometown. The real…
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Till Their Hearts Content
My normal blogs are usually free of self pity. I don’t complain very much about my state of life. What follows is an exception. Sometime early this afternoon, at a major New York City hospital, (when the moon is 22.8% waning crescent) I will lie face down, half naked, hands gripping the mattress by my…
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Waiting For Some Friends
Yes, I know. We went to Lowes in Plattsburg and purchased a fire-engine red snowblower. It has all the ‘stuff’ a person would want in one of these babies. It drives itself and controls the direction the snow is blown (away from your face for example). We waited for the Big One. After all it…
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Autumn Comes First, Right?
I learned a valuable lesson early this morning. No more preparation. Sometimes things make no sense. It doesn’t do much good to try and snow blow a 1/2″ of drizzling rain. The scheduled delivery from Lowe’s arrived on time. In fact it not only arrived on time, it was early. The truck was at our…
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The Bearded Man Beholds The Autumn
[Photo is mine.] He sits on the front deck of his home. Despite recent chilly weather, this particular Wednesday proved to be mild…even warm. He has spent the last half-hour watching a red squirrel scurry about a pile of chipped wood. Doubtless, this is to be his winter den. The bearded man is sitting…
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A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood
[Our beautiful neighborhood] Did I ever tell you that I have a sore back? Surely, I did. The other day I was sitting on the edge of the bed pondering how long a nap I should take when I chanced to hear the sound of big truck-like things and chainsaws. I decided to investigate. I…
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The Gift Of The Troll
[Source: google search.] I tried to be as quiet as a cat as I approached the Barnum Brook Bridge. I put my foot on the first plank and sure enough, my stealth was inadequate. Out from under the bridge, so fast I missed it because I had blinked, emerged the Troll, blocking my way. “Who…
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