Category Archives: Friendship

Luck is a Happy Delusion

Posted on January 30, 2020 by John Swinburn

Many of the most impactful events of our lives are governed by happenstance. They are just accidents of time and circumstance that intersect at malleable moments. People with whom we become lifelong friends or lifelong enemies; our spouses; careers we … Continue reading →

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Exploring an Empty Barrel

Posted on September 28, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent part of the last hour of this morning reading bits and pieces of about six months’ worth of newsletters from the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I’m not sure just why I found my way there. I started … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Philosophy, Religion, Stream of Consciousness | Leave a comment

Learning Something Every Day

Posted on August 31, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent much of the day yesterday in tourist-host mode, first accompanying a visiting friend to bathhouse row in Hot Springs, followed by a short stroll along Central Avenue, popping into a few shops and otherwise behaving as a tourist … Continue reading →

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Musings on Marriage

Posted on April 13, 2019 by John Swinburn

Today is our thirty-ninth anniversary. Despite my remarkably flawed personality, she has opted to tough it out all these years. Based on the experience so far, I guess our marriage is going to last. And I’m very glad and grateful … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Love, Marriage | 2 Comments

Friends versus Acquaintances

Posted on January 13, 2019 by John Swinburn

Last night, the concepts of “friend” versus “acquaintance” spun through my mind. I won’t try to explain why, because I think the explanation would only serve to erroneously paint me as a depressed skeptic. I’d rather think of myself as … Continue reading →

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Discomfiture Made Me Do It

Posted on March 28, 2018 by John Swinburn

The shame and discomfiture of my inactive fingers overtakes me; I must post SOMETHING on this blog or admit I am not a writer. It’s been more than a week since I posted an incoherent soul-search that attempted to discover … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdist Fantasy, Booze, Food, Friendship, Weather | Leave a comment

Stronger Than I Thought

Posted on March 23, 2017 by John Swinburn

I’ve broken out of my dry spell, discussed just two posts ago, I guess. First, it was the roadrunner, photos of which I posted earlier today, and now it’s a memory that haunts me and touches me in ways I cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Memories, Poetry | Leave a comment

Feasting with Friends

Posted on January 16, 2017 by John Swinburn

My failure to photographically record yesterday’s food frenzy is unfathomable. How could I, after spending the better part of two days preparing an extraordinary feast, forget to take pictures of the final product? I cannot explain. I cannot justify my oversight. … Continue reading →

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The Year in Pictures (of food)

Posted on December 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

Anyone who knows me knows I have this thing about food. I really enjoy cooking and eating and, as the collage above attests, taking pictures of food. Food is more than flavor and texture; it is eye candy, as well. … Continue reading →

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Shades of Gray

Posted on September 5, 2016 by John Swinburn

I woke up to face a reality I did not expect to endure. It’s a reality that never occurred to me, really. A reality that suggests I may be out of touch with reality in some fundamental ways; ways that … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Emotion, Friendship | Leave a comment

Dribs and Drabs of Dallas

Posted on March 13, 2016 by John Swinburn

The drive to Dallas was wet, especially early on as we left Hot Springs Village. Rain swept over the car in torrents, giving the windshield wipers a challenge they barely met. Once we merged onto I-30, about thirty-five miles from … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship, Just Thinking, Travel | 2 Comments

Voices and Memories and Energy

Posted on January 26, 2016 by John Swinburn

The last swallow of coffee is cold but, surprisingly, energizing. I look at my cup and wonder how I could have let that little bit of coffee sit, unattended and unswallowed, for so long. Ah, I know. I was writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Family, Friendship, Health, Poetry, Walking | Leave a comment

Millstone

Posted on January 10, 2016 by John Swinburn

But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. That—from Matthew 18:6 … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Philosophy | 4 Comments

Beer, Bathing & Wine

Posted on October 31, 2015 by John Swinburn

Last night was a joy. Friends from Dallas arrived and we enjoyed good food, marvelous libations, great conversation, and camaraderie. My sister-in-law was thrilled, as was I, that our friends’ arrival meant the delivery of three cases of wine not … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship, Just Thinking, Nudity | Leave a comment

Lonely Soulmates

Posted on October 10, 2015 by John Swinburn

The world, with all its billions of people, can be a lonely place for people whose ideas and attitudes don’t quite fit the norm. Though there must be someone among all those billions who share quirky ideas and attitudes, it’s hard … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Just Thinking | 2 Comments