Category: Teaching
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The Journey’s End 3: Inside Wimborne Minster-The Man In The Wall & The Chained Library
[Wimborne Minster. The Church of St Cuthburga. Wimborne, Dorset. Photo is mine.] The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~~Anon Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. ~~Thomas Gray Elegy…
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Journey’s End 2: Ringo Blaze & The Screaming Toilet Fish From Hell
[The White Hart Pub. The same place I remember so well. But, not the same place I found a few nights ago. Photo is mine.] Me to my brother, Dan: They call themselves Ringo Blaze & The Screaming Toilet Fish From Hell. Eh? My brother, Dan to me: Green or purple eight inch spiked mohawk.…
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Seeing Sally Again
[Sally and me at The White Hart Inn, Wimborne, Dorset. Date: June 7, 2023. Photo is mine] This afternoon, Sally took time out of her life to make the trip to Wimborne and meet with me and Mariam. We talked of that year (Mostly I talked). And I finally had a chance to thank her…
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Messina, (Sicily) Italy: Of WWII & The Godfather
[I haven’t spoken Latin since I was an altar boy…About fifty years ago. This statue greets our boat as we entered the Harbor of Messina. Photo is mine.] After an entire day at sea, we tied up at the dock in the city of Messina. It is our only port-of-call in Sicily. We paid 15…
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Dorset of My Dreams
“Oh, to be in England…” –Robert Browning It all started on a late winter morning of 1984. I was walking to my office at King & Low-Heywood Thomas School (KLHT) in Stamford, Connecticut. Walking with me was a teacher/administrator. She was going through her teacher-mail regarding microscope sales and Petri dish discounts. She held on…
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A Beautiful Day in My Neighborhood: Then & Now
You can take the guy out of the neighborhood but you can’t take the neighborhood out of the guy. –Frankie Valli It was a spectacular day in my old neighborhood. A mild May day, breezy and comfortable with the sun splashing the sidewalks with a warm glow. I decided to take a short walk and…
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I’m Not Sleepy
[Goya’s The Sleep of Reason. Photo credit: Goodle search.] [NOTE: The following post is rated S for sad.] When I was a young boy, about a hundred years ago, my mother would sit on the edge of my little bed and stroke my brown hair. It was well after my bedtime. I should have been sleeping the…
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Sometimes Losing is Winning
[Friends Seminary. [Photo credit: Google Search.] I spent New Years Eve, 1990 alone in a bar in Binghamton.The only kiss I got was from the off-duty bartender who had started celebrating early. He kissed the top of my head and said: “I love you, man,” and then fell backwards onto a table. I was at…
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For Me? It Was a Hard Days Night
[Source: Google search.] There were no classes scheduled for that Monday. It was parent/teacher conference day at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut. I was assigned to meet the parents of my students in an office close to the front entrance. I sat at the head of a large conference table made of a dark wood.…
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What Happened at 9:54 PM on September 22?
[The earth and sun at the equinox. Source: Google search.] Are you regular? I mean do you feel in balance? Was everything right as it should be on Saturday last, September 22? Many of you, myself included, will say that nothing is in balance these days. Nothing is as it should be. But let’s leave…
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