The Importance of Purple

I understand that not everyone will agree, or understand what I’m saying here. In fact, as I write this, I’m trying to understand this concept, myself, the importance of purple. A few years ago, I took a little shopping trip with a friend to one of those sprawling discount malls with all kinds of stores.…

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The Demands of DOG

Forgive me if I sound disrespectful, but I felt a need to complain about DOG. Of course, I feel guilty about it, but it is a fact that sometimes, even the most beloved dog can be a pain in the patootie. I must continually remind myself that she has no thumbs. That is to say…

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MaMa’s Big Lie and Other Revelations

Did I ever tell you the story of MaMa’s big lie to me? “MaMa” (pronouncing the ‘a’s as in “jam”) was my maternal grandmother. Well, she and PaPa were visiting us near Buffalo, New York, when I was three or four years old. It was morning. Dad had left for work. I’d watched Patty and…

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Stuff I Don’t Know

So far, I’ve spent about 72 years trying to figure things out so that I can define what I know. Here it is. The more I know, the more I know that I don’t know. I am a reader, a listener, and a watcher. I should be more of a doer, but before I DO,…

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The Language of the Soul

I seem to keep jumping back to this subject and I did post something on a similar vein nearly a year ago. But this one takes a different tack without serious repetition. Forty-eight years ago, I gave an in-service presentation at the Lynchburg Training School and Hospital on the importance of music. My employment title…

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A Special Kind of Friend

Rogers was a large school and there were probably close to 500 students in our class of 1970. In the four years I was in Newport, I can’t say I knew everyone personally or discovered who was related to whom, but I tried to attach a name to nearly every face. At Thompson Junior High…

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A Resistant Student

Guess what. It’s Easter Sunday. This was a super important day when I was growing up. Whether Christian or Jewish, the Easter season included Purim, Passover, and the Day of First Fruits (not by coincidence). So, yes, virtually ALL civilized families that I knew of were seriously celebrating this series of days as THE most…

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All It Takes is for Them to Come for Somebody Else

Whether you are Jewish or Christian, or claim to support no particular religious or spiritual belief, you should recognize that our very culture and documents of personal freedom are 100% based upon the Judeo-Christian principles as published in the Old Testament and additionally in the New Testament of the Bible. This is fact. Here is…

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Waterfront Living

Waterfront living can mean many things. Last night, I watched for the umpteenth time, a lovely movie named The Secret of Roan Inish. It beautifully illustrated the ultimate scenario of waterfront living on a small, stony island off the coast of Ireland. The only neighbors were the harbor seals and the gulls. It’s a romantic…

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Sunset Over Jamestown, 1965-1969

Mother told me, somewhat sarcastically, “For four years you’ve complained about missing the snow. You’ll be happy to learn that we’ll be moving back to Rhode Island when school is out!” She was not nearly as excited about moving back as her 13-year-old daughter was. People speak glowingly of sunny California, but I honestly felt…

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