Category: North Country Life
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What To Do?
[The puzzle as of April 9.] Dear Dr. Fauchi, I am in need of a motivation transplant. I know that isn’t your field but I felt it wouldn’t hurt to ask. And I ask this at this particular time because you probably have little or nothing to do since the pandemic situation is totally under…
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The Murder Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle Caper
[The Puzzle box cover.] Several days had passed and I was still saddened by the way I had left the Troll. He looked so dejected as he headed back to his self-isolation under the bridge. I made a mental note to make sure I go back in the early summer and pay him a visit.…
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The Troll Of Barnum Brook Bridge
[The only known photo of the Barnum Brook Bridge Troll. Photo source: Google search.] I stood in my kitchen staring at my Costco weather monitor. Mariam was busy looking for a container of low-salt broth. For twenty-two minutes I glared at the humidity reading. It was our eighteenth day of self-isolation. Except for a small…
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The Two Garbage Bins: A Winter’s Tale
[Iceberg Landscape. Photo source: Google search.] In the U.K. they call it “Bin Day”. That’s when you put your rubbish and recycles out at curbside. I think that is a very cute way of putting things, but then the English are so cute anyway. On March 22, they will celebrate “Mothering Day” instead of “Mother’s…
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Snow
The woods are pleasant, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. –Robert Frost [Our tiny forest. Our front yard. Photo is mine.] I can think of nothing in nature more calming, soothing and tranquil than standing in a…
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Two Men On A Rock
And I need to be there when the world gets too heavy and the shadows cross my mind. Like brave mountaineers, we were never bothered much by time. —Gordon Lightfoot. [The author, left (in blue) and climbing partner, Greg Stella on the trail of Big Slide Mountain. circa 1972.] Once upon a time, two…
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Now I Know What It Was Like
[Three candles and a laptop. Photo is mine.] Don’t get me wrong…I love history. But I don’t necessarily need to live in history. I have no desire to travel to someplace in North Carolina to ditch my reading glasses, my jeans and my iPhone to reenact a minor battle in the Civil War. I have…
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When Sand Turns Cold: Between The Seasons
[The Lake Colby Beach in Saranac Lake, NY. Photo is mine.] This is an odd time of the year. The autumn colors are past peak (yes, there are a few places where the reds are blinding and the yellows can bring tears to your eyes)…but the peak foliage in its intensity is essentially gone until…
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Good-bye Rosie
[Rosie. Photo is mine.] My mother passed away in her sleep on a quiet Easter Sunday morning in 1992. A sad event indeed. Just days before on Holy Thursday, she sat in the living room of our home and told the priest that she was tired and was prepared. She was ready. She also told…
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The No-Name Motel
[The motel with no name] Most of the time I can erect a fence to contain the images and imaginations from escaping my brain. Sometimes a little white picket fence with pink daisies in purple pots are enough to hold back the most innocent and decent imagery that my mind can create. Then, there are…
patrickjegan 