Month: March 2024
Who You Are
“To be human is to have a collection of memories that tells you who you are and how you got there.” Rosecrans Baldwin, an American author.
Has anyone ever met a Rosecrans? Unusual name. What were his parents thinking? How painful the playground must have been at school.
Certainly amnesia leaves you floating on a sea of the unknown. But, after publishing 300 pages of memoir, I do have a better handle on my identity.
Last I checked, I am human. Though, I have been accused of worse, particularly by some who have read my memoirs.
Letting Those Words Flow
A True Book
“A book, a true book, is the writer’s confessional. For, whether he would have it so or not, he is betrayed, directly or indirectly, by his characters, into presenting publicly his innermost feelings.” That was from the late Nelson Algren, an American writer.
It was essentially true in my three books of memoir and my two novelettes. But, I do think one takes some care to avoid some of those deep feelings in deference to others and to oneself. Don’t you think?
There certainly is that word discretion vital to us all. Is it not?
Sing Your Song
Days in the Sun Revisited
I saw some calm bay water today. That water reminded me of those occasional perfect days in the 50s when I could ski on Miami’s Biscayne Bay in a dead calm. The water was like glass. The sun would shine down invitingly.
The slalom ski I used I custom made in shop in eighth grade, the perfect size for the smallest kid in class. But my size was an advantage giving me a lower center of gravity. If I tried slalom water skiing tomorrow my entire back would spasm.
Ah, the 50s, those were bad old, good old days. In the 50s my friends would either use me as a basketball before I lost a lot of weight or join me in skiing after I did. The skiing was a lot more fun than being dribbled or shot for three pointers.
Got Curious About Monaco
I got curious about Monaco, the second smallest country, and did a little research. Vatican City (a city-state) is the smallest country. Funny, you have the whole world to pick from, and the two smallest nations are that close together, both speaking Romance languages.
Although it has a tax-free status, another attraction is its reputation as a place where violent crime is essentially unknown. The murder rate is about one per decade.
Finally, I discovered residents cannot gamble per federal law in the face of the famed casino, so enjoyed by one, James Bond.
Sure can be fascinating to do a little Googling. Don’t you think?
Nuclear
50
“I think when the full horror of being fifty hits you, you should stay home and have a good cry.” “There is a woman at the beginning of all great things. ” Alan Bleasdale, an English author.
With the obstacles of being an older couple as septugenarians, understood, looking back at 50 reminds us both how precious every day over fifty has been. That’s clear as one considers our daily lives.
Kristine hasn’t lost a step in her culinary skills that, despite the limitations of my ever-shrinking diet, make dinner time a wonderful time of day. Somehow, Kris also finds the rare segments of good television in the confusing multitude of today’s streamed choices.
At the same time, her dedication to exercise since the age of 8 prevents couchdom in our elderly lives. Not that I have any objections to that couch, which was the first major purchase in our married life in 1978. By coincidentally being married in December, we had a tax break that allowed the purchase, and we’ve been delighted with that piece of furniture for almost 50 years. The couch has been reconstructed and reupholstered innumerably. But hey, it’s a comfortable place, particularly over 50.
Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey 