Category: Real Personal History

• Farewell Marcel

  Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. –Marcel Proust As I strolled through the Parisian gardens of Luxembourg I paused and watched the people absorbing the sun’s warmth which was peeking, like a cat burglar, through the sweet gate in the sky…

  patrickjegan

  July 28, 2022

  Blogging, books, Childhood, Creativity, Holding onto the Past, In Search of Lost Time, Memories, Objects of Beauty, Real Personal History, seniors, Time

  French literature, memories, Proust

• 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…

  patrickjegan

  July 1, 2022

  Adirondacks, Family, Home, humor, Mountains and Memories, Nature, North Country Life, Present, Real Personal History, satire, seniors, summer

  cobwebs, house maintenance, screen cleaning

• A Spadeful of Earth

  Grief is the price we pay for love. –Queen Elizabeth II In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. –Abraham Lincoln When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent…

  patrickjegan

  June 12, 2022

  Adirondacks, canoe, Childhood, Creativity, Cremation, death, Family, Friendship, History, Holding onto the Past, Love, Melancholy Thoughts, Memories, Mountains and Memories, Nature, non-fiction, owego ny, Real Personal History, Religion, summer, Susquehanna River, Time, winter

  Adirondacks, death, General Clinton Canoe Regatta, grieving, Loss of a long time friend, memories, owego ny

• Into The Woods

  “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.” –Carl Jung In the rearview mirror of the last three weeks of my life, I see I’ve left behind many things and added many memories. I’ve left behind the heat and sand of Florida, the peaches and boiled peanuts…

  patrickjegan

  May 23, 2022

  Adirondacks, brothers, canoe, death, Family, Ghosts, Holding onto the Past, Melancholy Thoughts, Memories, Nature, New York City, non-fiction, North Country Life, Real Personal History, seniors, Time, Travels

  Adirondacks, New York City, winter

• The Peanut

  Georgia, Georgia The whole day through (The whole day through) Just an old sweet song Keeps Georgia on my mind. —Hoagy Carmichael (1930) (Source: LyricFind) Yes, we’ve left Florida and are now trying to survive in the oppressive heat of Macon, Georgia. For the last 100 miles or so I’ve had peanuts on my mind.…

  patrickjegan

  May 3, 2022

  History, non-fiction, Real Personal History, satire, The South, Travels

  George Washington Carver, Georgia, Peanuts

• The Migratory Habits of Cockle Shells, Birds & Yankees

  [Author’s note: I would like to dedicate this humble blog to my friends and loved ones who, through no fault of their own, were caught up in a Late-Spring Snowstorm. No wonder many of my classmates from high school moved to the south or mid-south after graduation. After a winter in Fort Myers, Florida, I…

  patrickjegan

  April 20, 2022

  Adirondacks, Blogging, Bob Dylan, canoe, Childhood, Ghosts, History, humor, Memories, non-fiction, Oceanography, owego ny, Real Personal History, seniors, The sea, The South, Travels, winter

  autumn, Bar-tailed godwit, Florida, Migratory Birds, owego ny, Snowbirds, winter

• Late Night Thoughts on Connie Francis

  Spring and summer were still weeks away, although summer seems to permanently exist here in Florida. But still… I was sitting in the lanai making notes on developing and writing and publishing a blog about music and the importance of Connie Francis. We had just been to the beach and my head was full of…

  patrickjegan

  April 15, 2022

  Childhood, Creativity, History, Holding onto the Past, humor, Memories, Real Personal History, seniors, summer, The South, Travels

  Alexa, Annette Funicello, Beach Movies, Connie Francis, Florida summers, Frankie Avalon, Micky Mouse Club, Tommy Kirk

• Just Like Riding A Bicycle

  I’m standing at the window of our hotel in New York City watching the snow blow upwards. Fifty-two floors below, whatever snow survives melts quickly on Fifty- fifth street or perhaps Broadway. Winters in Manhattan are infamous for the wicked winds that gust in from the Hudson and clash with the bluster through the cross…

  patrickjegan

  February 13, 2022

  Blogging, New York City, non-fiction, owego ny, Real Personal History, winter

  bicycles, cold winds, February weather, lumbar, Mount Sinai, neurosurgery, pain

• A Memory Is Immortality

  To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. —Anon I stood and stared at the box. I was alone. All the relatives, guests and friends had left after the service. The room was quiet except for the almost imperceptible recorded tones of funeral music. I stood several feet away from the box,…

  patrickjegan

  February 10, 2022

  brothers, Childhood, Cremation, death, Family, Holding onto the Past, Melancholy Thoughts, Memories, owego ny, Real Personal History, terminal cancer, Uncategorized

  Immortality, memories of childhood, stories

• Avocados And Men

  There he is, leaning against his Electric Blue 2017 Honda Fit. He is confident and casual. This is a man of many talents. You should get to know him. Along with his many talents he is a 3-card Monte champion and well known in Monte Carlo, certified 747 pilot, world renown diesel mechanic, first human…

  patrickjegan

  January 25, 2022

  Creativity, Everyday Events, humor, non-fiction, Real and Unreal Adventures, Real Personal History, satire, seniors, summer

  avacadoes, Florida climate, great achievement