Category: Objects of Beauty
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The Circus: The Excursionist XI
Really great adventures always start with a sign taped to a window of a shop or to a wooden pole along the curb. At least that’s how I found out about the circus. We’re not talking about Barnum & Bailey here or even the Big Apple Circus that visits Lincoln Center every winter. No, this…
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Words From A Footpath: The Excursionist X
[Older footpath signs] It must be my age. It could be my imagination. It certainly is something I don’t fully understand. But, the truth is I think that the English Public Footpaths sometimes call my name. There is a legend among the Northwest Indigenous People that when you hear an owl call your name…you will…
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Barcelona To Bristol: The Excursionist IX
[On the approach to Bristol Airport] The rain wasn’t falling anywhere near us on the morning we boarded the EasyJet plane in Barcelona. I was stuck with a window seat (ok, I had a chance to move to the aisle but I chose to have a view). We soared out over the Mediterranean before making…
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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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Another Time Around
[Our front deck table.] It all happened so fast. One minute, the flies fill the skies, the frogs croak down by the lake, the fan is kept on all night (a rare thing here in the North Country) and I spend my outdoor time swatting mosquitoes. Tonight, we’re told of a frost warning. The fan…
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An August Omen
Omen n. Something believed to be a sign of good or evil. –The American Heritage Dictionary Can you see it? Between the two large trees…behind the birch. I can see it. I first noticed it a few days ago but held-off saying anything about it. It’s not a cardinal or an oriole. It’s a leaf.…
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It Just Isn’t That Simple
I am waging a war here in the North Country. I am waging a war against spiders. I am the General and I am losing. Look, we bought the house in 2000, but the spiders think they are the real owners. That’s eighteen years of warfare. The two World Wars didn’t last that long. Okay,…
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Of Time and Distance: A Departing
[Corfe Castle] Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I sat on unmowed grass leaning against a stone wall. I was on the grounds of Corfe Castle in south Dorset. The mason who built my backrest had fitted the stones into their places over 1,000 years ago. There was still a strong sun in the west and…
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Lancelot, The Spotless Starling And The Blogger
[Spotless Starling. Source: Google search.] I’m perched on a chimney near the Ashfield House B&B with my friend, Tristram. We’re Spotless Starlings. You can find us on page 303 of Collins Pocket Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. You might not find us in Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of America, but we’re in…
