Category Archives: General
Leading up to Christmas!
The weather forecast throughout North America is a winter storm. In Florida this translates to the possibility of rain, wind and temperatures plummeting to 56°F judiciously isolated to Saturday, Sunday and Monday which in this instance means Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In anticipation of this impending peril, and knowing that children and grandchildren have already begun to arrive on Key Largo to holiday with the senior generation, I ensured I was positioned at my chaise longue by the pool early this morning. It must have been shortly after 10:30 am. There was no one else there so I had no trouble locating what for me is the most desirable perch; namely, southeasterly (for the morning sunrise), most northerly (away from the impending afternoon shadows) and westerly (to avoid the shade of the trees on the far side of the pool).
The Red Panda
Toby, who had a protuberant little belly (over which hung a tag strung from his neck announcing his pedigree), was a Red Panda Teddy bear made in Germany of Mohair, No. 458 of a Limited Edition of 1000 pieces. He “lived” in the Village clock shoppe of Mr. Dilwert Schomberg on top of The Concise Oxford Dictionary (Fifth Edition), which in turn rested upon two thick volumes of telephone books (one of which was the Yellow Pages, the other a listing of Regional Residential numbers). From this vantage atop the old metal filing cabinet (which in turn supported the Regional Listing, Yellow Pages and Dictionary), Toby was afforded a clear view across the room where Mr. Schomberg (squinting through his gold rimmed spectacles) worked assiduously during the day at his well-worn wooden desk, cluttered with a collection of pliers, small screw drivers and other implements of the trade. Toby’s view further extended over the glass-cased oak counter, and finally to the pine door entrance, appended to the outside of which was a large brass door knocker in the shape of a mighty lion’s head. Fortunately for Toby, in the poorly heated shoppe of Mr. Schomberg, he had the benefit by day of a nearby lamp which poured forth both its light and radiant heat upon Toby, at least that is until Mr. Schomberg at the end of the business day unpocketed his set of keys, turned off the lights, turned down the heat even more, then removed himself from the premises, locking the door with a double click behind him. As a result of Mr. Schomberg’s precautions, the nights were fairly uncomfortable for Toby, and no doubt accounted for the enthusiasm (in his heart only of course) with which he greeted Mr. Schomberg upon his arrival the next morning, when the light and heat were restored.
Eleutheromania
Observe, however, beyond the Atlantic, has not the new day verily dawned! Democracy, as we said, is born; storm-girt, is struggling for life and victory. A sympathetic France rejoices over the Rights of Man; in all saloons, it is said, What a spectacle! Now too behold our Deane, our Franklin, American Plenipotentiaries, here in position soliciting; the sons of the Saxon Puritans, with their Old-Saxon temper, Old-Hebrew culture, sleek Silas, sleek Benjamin, here on such errand, among the light children of Heathenism, Monarchy, Sentimentalism, and the Scarlet-woman.
Excerpt From
Carlyle, Thomas. “The French Revolution.”
Getting ready for the holidays!
Living as we do in North America where the traditional holiday schedule surrounds Santa Claus and the New Year (December 24th to January 1st), it is impossible to ignore the delirium and commercial toxicity which prevails in anticipation of the festivities. Even thinking about food supplies and booze is characterized by a concern about how busy the supermarkets and liquor stores are likely to become. And if one were to live in a snowbound locale, the collateral issues of weather and travel are commensurate.
What’s it like to be old?
“What profit hath a man for all his toil, in which he toils under the sun?”, expressing that the lives of both wise and foolish people all end in death.
I’m not about to dwell upon the obvious peculiarities of old age, like the daily handfuls of pills, that the bathroom is your favourite room in the house, that you cannot sleep soundly longer than two or three hours, that you can’t get out of bed before not less than nine hours, that your physical complaints cover endless biological issues. No, I’m talking about things like forgetting what you forgot to do when you initially remembered to do it.
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What’s in a name?
From yesterday’s fecund rains has blossomed a bouquet of circumstance and events. The effervescence is precisely the mundane fodder of life which cheerfully animates our temporal flavour. Long ago I have surpassed the unrealistic drama of space travel or comprehending the meaning of a myriad of technological expressions.
To begin, today was an inexpressibly lovely day – absolutely clear blue sky, dry air, a cool breeze and of course drenched in a syrup of yellow sunshine. As I savoured my afternoon swim, I floated on my back, gazing into the limitless azure sky surrounded by a margin of green and sage trees and the flashes of sunlight through the palm fronds.
Rainy Sunday on Key Largo
No matter where one happens to be, if it’s raining it’s dull outside. Such is the grey picture today, a rainy Sunday on Key Largo. The earth on Key Largo must be but a rind upon the coral reef beneath. Everywhere is evidence of the stony impenetrable coral. Miraculously the vegetation survives and thrives though there are signs of distress reflected in the twisted and hardened limbs of the rude trees. No doubt the abundance of vegetation is due in part to the frequency of rain throughout the summer months. Thereafter from about November until May the weather is predictably dryer. Except that is upon these relatively infrequent and fleeting occasions of rain.
The cynosure of America
“It will accumulate: moreover, it will reach a head; for the first of all Gospels is this, that a Lie cannot endure for ever.”
Excerpt from:
The French Revolution
by Thomas Carlyle
The most spectacular recollection of the French Revolution is the guillotine; and in particular the beheading in 1793 of Marie Antoinette, French Queen and wife of absolute monarch King Louis XVI.
Elysium
In Greek and Roman mythology, Elysium was the place of rest for the dead who were blessed by the gods. It was also known as the Elysian Fields or the Elysian Plain. Originally only heroes whom the gods had made immortal went to Elysium.
The fantasy developed a more proximate appeal by overcoming the prerequisite of death.