Ed explains to Paul that if you sit quietly, you’ll eventually hear the woodland creatures and they may even come up to you. Location: near the top of a trail at Winding Hills State Park in Montgomery, New York.
The only two things I miss about living in New York are the trees and the food.
A pricker bush at Winding Hills Park in Montgomery, New York.
When I left New York at 18 in 1988, I was off to college, but I was also searching for a place to fit in.
As I walk in the lush greenness, the familiarity of Middletown, it is not my home. It’s the place where I grew up, the town that shaped who I am today, but it’s not a place where I fit in.
Something happened to my family in the years that I’ve been gone. They’re more conservative. More entrenched in what they are doing. More easily shaped by the words spewed forth on the television or by their friends and neighbors.
They’ve got the car, the house, the kids, the white picket fence, the stability. But none of that was anything I ever pursued. And yet, there’s that non-spoken condemnation and the looks because I chose a different path.
During my vacation over the past couple of weeks, some random things popped into my head. I’ll have some more in-depth things soon.
My posts take 2-6 hours to write and another 30 minutes to post. I have dozens I want to do, but never seem to be able to find the time to get them done.
Also, my cat, Cinders, has been on my lap since I returned home from vacation. There is little else I can do except pet her. My legs are numb. Her claws are permanently embedded in my leg.
The Transportation Security Administration has never been more than security theater.
Ever since the TSA was created, it has had problems. Whether employees were stealing from luggage or getting arrested for a variety of crimes, including child pornography, it has always been more about security theater than catching terrorists.
Crass jokes and people pushing the envelope has been, and probably always will be, with us. They were written on the walls in Pompeii and the walls of modern public restrooms. We may chuckle or cringe, but how far is too far? And who gets to decide when we have crossed a line.
In the past week, two entertainers have been accused of crossing the line of good taste. One, Kathy Griffin, has been fired from her job and has lost many sponsorship deals. The other, Bill Maher, has apologized for his comments.
My first trip abroad was in the Spring of 1985. My high school French class took a trip each year and I knew I wanted to go. I remember the cost was $1,073 for the ten-day trip. Every penny I earned delivering newspaper went toward that trip.
My French teacher, Mrs. Mazzone, drilled it into our heads we would be ambassadors for America. Our behavior would reflect what people would think of Americans. Careful admonishments were made about how we should act in public and private during the trip and we learned about cultural differences we should expect.
This photograph is making the rounds this morning on the Internet and I have many questions.
Why is Trump smiling while everyone else is dour?
Why do I think Trump just passed gas and is as happy as a 12-year old?
Why are Ivanka and Melania wearing head coverings for the Pope, but did not do so in Saudi Arabia? It is the custom in both places.
Why is everyone wearing black? Did they all attend a funeral? Was it America’s funeral?
Why is the Pope an extra step away from Trump?
Each day, Americans are faced with the reality of the Trump Administration’s desire to take away our rights or threatening our welfare in some way. On April 30, one of his surrogates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, said the president is still considering “opening up” the libel laws.
On any given Sunday, the movie theater was where you used to be able to find me. Cinemas 6 in the Caldor Plaza was about a mile’s walk from home. It eventually expanded to become Cinemas 9. My friend, Doug, and I would spend the day there, arriving for the first show around 11 a.m., and leaving after the last, near midnight.
Before going, a plot was made of each movie and which theater it was in or the time listing from the newspaper was torn out and kept in my pocket. As each movie ended, we walked with the exiting crowd, slipping into the next open theater.
Employees and management didn’t seem to mind. We didn’t cause trouble. If we were loud and disruptive, we’d be kicked out.
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