Repeating Twenty-five years ago I was attending a function at Cornell University when I met a pleasant young woman by the name of Nancy. She introduced herself as the wife of my cousin Pete. My mother had three brothers and two sisters while she grew up in the town of Lansing in the Finger Lakes area of New York State. One sister died in childhood during a raging flood. One brother and the other sister…
Ode to a Patty Melt My stomach has changed in ways that are still a mystery to me. For many years I could and did eat anything in whatever quantity I wanted and it all showed up where you would expect it would. I spent my entire adult life going from one failed diet or program to another. I was in Weight Watchers twice I think. I was in a St. Luke’s trial that was…
Expert is as Expert Does Last night was a glorious last night in Rome for us after a little more than a week of enjoying the wonders of Italy. There were several things that made it so special, not the least of which was the venue itself. We had been invited by my Italian partner, Damiano, to join him at a restaurant owned by a childhood Palermo friend of his. That restaurant is on the…
The Young Man Within I am rewatching The Crown, that wonderful Netflix series about the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II. The current episode starts with Winston Churchill speaking with his assistant, a young blonde woman who acts as his secretary. She is apparently infatuated with Churchill and at the suggestion by him that she spend more time with a young man her own age, she has taken to reading Churchill’s biography to acquaint…
Me and Betty This is the start of day two since Natasha has gone home and before Kim returns. I can see that we have a routine and the secret seems to be to keep to that routine whenever possible. Betty has accustomed herself to sleep in the living room. I’m not sure why she prefers it to the bedroom, where she sleeps when Kim is here, but I must admit its easier for me…
On the Celtic Altar It’s another atypical day here on the hilltop. I have a very clear sense that the weather has been off for several months now. It just doesn’t feel much like Southern California, at least not as I know it. What keeps me from saying that more definitively is that this is only my third Spring living here, so I’m not sure I can speak so comprehensible about the weather patterns. My…
Scripto Ergo Cogito Ergo Disco Ergo Sum Rene Descartes started it all in 1637 in his Discourse on the Method, which most scholars consider his seminal philosophical work. I have amended it to read (in Latin), I write, therefore I think, therefore I learn, therefore I am. My default activity these days is to write. I know this especially now because I am finishing a ten day trip to New York and Italy and I…
Out of Rome As I head back home to San Diego in my Jet Blue seat, I have just watched for the umpteenth time, Out of Africa with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. There are few movies that I find so beautiful. It is beautiful in cinematography, beautiful in its haunting soundtrack, beautiful in its turn-of-the-century costuming of the adventurous safari set and beautiful in its narration as though we are hearing directly from the…
Slammin’ Salmon Ever since I was a kid, I have had a strong aversion to fish. I, like most people my age, ate my share of fish sticks in my youth and I didn’t hate them, but they are coated with bread crumbs and fried or baked to the point of being a bread stick with some tasteless white stuff in the middle…and a lot of tarter sauce all over them. I think its fair…
Wandering Through Grace When I start a new story like this, I pluck a recent story from the recently saved ones and use its format to delete the story and replace the title. That saves me from having to choose a font and font size and get the alignment right. Today, the old story I plucked from the array was When Will You Make an End, which was about my Hobbit House, but starts off…