Category: Real Personal History
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My 600th Blog: Lat. 24 N./Long. 81 W.
[Ernest Hemingway’s typewriter. Located at the Hemingway House Museum, Key West, Florida. Photo is mine.] Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. ~~Ernest Hemingway I am sitting in the air-conditioned Monroe Country Public Library (Key West Branch). It’s quiet, cool and has a WiFi that takes no prisoners. I…
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Paradise Lost
[Sculpture from the MET. Photo is mine. Sadly, I failed to record the sculptor.] No matter where you’re going it’s the wrong place. ~ ~Tobe Hooper [BEFORE YOU CONTINUE: This blog post is not, in any way, an attempt to denigrate any staff, employees or anyone else who made every effort to make our short…
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We Dream In Colors Borrowed From The Sea
[The beach at Taino Beach Resort. Photo is mine.] Like painted kites Those days and nights, they went flyin’ by The world was new Beneath a bright blue umbrella sky… ~ ~The Summer Wind. Lyrics by Henry Mayer & Hans Bradtke Slide your beach lounger closer, Mariposa, the white plastic is making my eyes water.…
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Balmy Latitudes
I’m sailing the summer wind I’ve got whiskers on my chin And I like the mood I’m in As I while away the time of day… ~~Gordon Lightfoot “Christian Island” You’ll have to move your stool closer, Gloria. I need to multitask right now. I’m making notes on a new blog and, while talking to…
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To Chris: A Long Overdue Eulogy
[Taku Towers. Juneau Icefield, Alaska. Unknown Photographer.] My older brother, Chris, would make slight cuts in an apple from our backyard in Owego, NY. This would allow the apple to shatter into bits of apple-shrapnel. No Surface-to-Surface missile would hit with such velocity, because he would mount the apple on the sharpened end of a…
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My 75th New Year
[Source: Google search] Some of you will be reading this post late on Sunday afternoon…after several Alka-Seltzer tablets. Some will be reading this tonight, before the Ball Drops in Times Square. Some of you will see who the blog is from and move on without a glance. “Oh, him again.” Some will see my name…
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Coal For Christmas
[Another year. Another Christmas. I republish this every holiday season with a tweak here and there. This story is true and I am passing it down to new readers and my two children and my grandson. Every story from our own lives or the lives of those we once loved…every story is worth telling. There…
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A Song. An Image. A Tear
“Sometimes,” said Pooh, “the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ~~ Winnie the Pooh I am a fan of talent shows. I don’t mean the kind we used to see on the Miss America Contest from Atlantic City. Bert Parks standing off to the side and singing “There She Is, Miss…
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Local Boy Does Good
“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.” –Anon. [Source: Pintrest] It was mid-October. The forecast called for clouds and drizzle. The chilly air and the leaves along the sidewalks brought back memories of Halloweens past. I never saw so many pumpkins. I usually had…
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The Lost Mausoleum
“Reader beware as you pass by. As you are now so once was I. As I am now so you will be. Therefore, prepare to follow me.” –Tombstone Inscription [Source: Pintrest] This is a true story. It does not involve ghosts but it has potential. It takes place in Owego, NY, my hometown. Yes, it…