Over the last few weekends, Mrs. P and I have continued our excursions along the Delaware Canal and have now covered nearly a quarter of its length (twice, since each trip is up and back to wherever we’ve parked). (My first post on the Canal, from mid-March, is here.)

We’ve… Read full post »

With apologies to those who feel otherwise, Dick Clark’s death doesn’t mean diddly to me. But delivering the news, as tiny tidbit, not Momentous Event, to my dear one provoked an irrepressible surge of devilish shorthand ways to describe the Eternal Teen’s death.  

Here, t… Read full post »

A tom turkey came prancing through our backyard the other morning. He appeared to be feeling his spring oats: his wattle was bright red and his head a shining blue in the morning sunlight. He twice stopped in the midst of his promenade through our and our neighbor’s yard to stand… Read full post »

Diamonds strewn on sable
by generous hand,
most flickering fusion flames,
a few reflecting unseen life factory.
Near platinum crescent,
bowled to gather all the gems,
attracting Venus brightly
seduces soul to awe.

Sapphire next, replacing ebon
field with purplish blue sheen,
sky as ground for emergent t… Read full post »

In The Way (2010), Thomas Avery (Martin Sheen), a successful Southern California ophthalmologist, satisfied with the ordered life he has chosen, finds himself on an unexpected trek. Avery is a decent man—a doctor who will come to the office at eight in the morning to accommodate a patient&rsquo… Read full post »

Fog blankets sky
as snow covers ground in colder times,
blurring all,
casting pall of sameness across heavens,
blocking light,
absorbing remnant thoughts of new day.

Snow can be shoveled aside
plowed through,
yea, walked or skied over.
Fog broods, suffocates
fond dreams,
frustrates efforts to remove it… Read full post »

1.         In a commercial from Big Pharma: “May cause comic side effects.” 

2.         In a campaign commercial: “You’ll always know where I stand—right in the pockets of Big Oil!&rdquo… Read full post »

Delaware Canal State Park might be the longest, narrowest state park around. It runs 60 miles from Bristol to Easton, Pennsylvania, and is about, oh a couple dozen feet wide.

The canal was originally built in the 1830s in the canal-building heyday that followed the quick success of New York’s… Read full post »

Saturday, after posting, Mrs. P and I looked at all the photos I’d taken from the Flower Show, and I realized there were some gems that I should have included in my Flower Show post from earlier that day. Here they are.  

 … Read full post »

Winter’s bite has not been so sharp this year, though a pre-Halloween snow and ice storm boded ill. And the blooming of crocuses and daffodils before the end of February—as well as the arrival of one of the dozen most delightful days of the year, Pitchers and Catchers—had already si… Read full post »

1. Your main trait: Uncertainty. 

2. The quality you like best in a man: A forgiving nature. 

3. The quality you like best in a woman: ditto: I’m no sexist. 

4. Your main flaw: Uncertainty. 

5. Last time you cried: I felt better for it. Doesn’t it usually work for you… Read full post »

Mrs. P received the following from a cousin, so it is not original (except in this particular version of English, which is my puny translation of the Spanish version that she received). While such messages that meander through the cyberworld are often trite—or tripe—well, this o… Read full post »

Several of the orchids have decided to get us through the remainder of the winter. Thought you’d like a peek. 

But more surprising things are happening outside.… Read full post »

There is a passage in the sprawling, intriguing novel 1Q84 in which the male protagonist, Tengo Kawana, in the country to visit his father in a rural elder-care facility, hears an owl hooting in the early morning and wonders what message the bird is giving him.

That stuck with me because… Read full post »

Friday Lists used to be a regular feature of this blog. (Blogging used to be a regular feature of this blog . . . ) 

10.       When the National Weather Service states the time of the sunrise and sunset for a given location, from what location does it have in mind?… Read full post »

Yes, this Sunday I will watch the Super Bowl, joining millions of other Americans in the mid-winter national holiday, when we try to see glimpses of an actual athletic contest hidden within the orgy of corporate greed, network self-promotion, and league arrogance. But my heart won’t be in it. N… Read full post »

One of the things that always charmed me about The Fantasticks was the frank desire of Luisa’s Act I pleading declaration, “I am special. I am special.”  

Who, indeed, does not wish to be special? When I was younger, so much younger than today, my attraction to that statem… Read full post »

As we looked to the south this morning, we could see only gray. A soft cloud cover gauzed the sky, not the ominous white-gray of impending snow, but a dull gray that simply daubed all color away.  

The gray sky blended with the light frost on the roofs across the street, further… Read full post »

Yesterday was Epiphany, and I had one (well, what passes for one for me). Epiphany is, of course, the feast day celebrating the appearance of the Wise Men in Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn Jesus. It also  marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Shakespeare, anyone? What you… Read full post »

One Sunday a few weeks ago, before going Christmas shopping, Mrs. P and I went first to the park for a stroll. The day was mild for December, and the sky was blue crystal, a flawless gem that sparkled with sunshine.  

The park was largely deserted: everyone was out shopping or… Read full post »

Friend, lover, partner, co-parent
Spirit guide, confessor, counselor
Teacher of Spanish and (ah, Cuban time) patience
Sharer of laughs and tears, of baseball and Beethoven

Rescuer, years ago and years later
Keeper of the family flame
Parallel worker and office mate
Accepter, not judge (most miraculous of al… Read full post »

I couldn’t show pictures of our town without treating you to some of its trees, since the Arbor Day Foundation has named it a “Tree City” (which means it has a government body devoted to tending trees). 

Now the trees have lost their foliage, but when I took these pictures at… Read full post »

My first post on our hometown was about its history and contained several photos of significant or interesting structures. But as I was walking through town taking pictures, I was also very struck by some of the details in and around these buildings. Come along for a look-see. 

&nb… Read full post »

In late October, Little Kate treated us to some photographs and history of her home, Lismore, in New South Wales, Australia. She invited the rest of us to pile on, and I thought I’d oblige with a little tour of our hometown, Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  

Newtown was founded b… Read full post »

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, . . . it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the [autumn] of hope, it was the [autumn] of despair. 

We have twice now had the most magnificent Bradford pears on the… Read full post »