Author Archives: John Swinburn

My hands are cold, as are my feet. I have not had to rely on my cane so far this morning, but if my feet get any colder, I may watch them crack into icy pieces of flesh-colored glass. +++ … Continue reading →

Despite the fact that I felt a little like microwaved end-of-life, yesterday’s gathering of friends for a traditional Thanksgiving meal lifted my spirits. The group was small—eight of us. Had it been significantly larger or smaller, the closeness of the … Continue reading →

Several years ago—after I retired but before I moved from Dallas to Hot Springs Village—I tried to interest several people, one by one, to join me on a road trip by Greyhound bus. One by one, my suggestion was dismissed … Continue reading →

When clouds gather unexpectedly, I quietly ask myself whether something is going on above or behind them. Are Greek or Roman gods deliberating about something important? Matters of celestial significance? Or have greedy politicians corruptly snatched the power away from … Continue reading →

Except for the occasional foray into the chaotic world beyond these walls—chiefly through the portals of madness…television and internet access—this house has become a sanctuary. Here, an insular cocoon provides protections against the decay of civilization. Those protections take many forms: … Continue reading →

Illness can do collateral damage to healthy people. I mean the healthy people who suddenly find themselves feeling obligations to care for the sick. While they may willingly take on those obligations, the sense of responsibility and the demands of … Continue reading →

U.S. culture generates an inherent nervousness in us. Fears of judgment, ranging from mild disapproval to rabid condemnation, shape our behaviors. We are an uptight culture, bred to color between the lines and closely observe cultural mores and behave accordingly. … Continue reading →

This morning, when I stand up, I feel slightly dizzy. When I walk, the sensation sometimes gets stronger. The dizziness/weakness may owe its existence to a very tame health-fest yesterday; eating healthy foods, etc. and getting comfortable with a gummy. … Continue reading →

You must be bored to tears. You are here, on this blog, for inexplicable and indefensible reasons. You learn nothing of consequence here. Yet here you are, at least at this moment and for long enough to read these words. … Continue reading →

The murkiness of knowledge bedevils humankind; not because of what it is, but because of the way we define it. One of the principle definitions—which misleads us into misunderstanding—is this: “the fact or state of knowing; the perception of fact … Continue reading →

I never have shot a deer. I never have tried. But I have known people who have known people… And I do again. When I spent a year in grad school, one of my brother’s friends (all of us lived … Continue reading →

Bureaucracy has its limited place—monitoring organizational efforts on accomplishing declared aims; maximizing efficiency of action; preventing misuse of resources; and performing several related functions intended to ensure protecting against harmful deviations from the scope of organizations and projects. That mouthful, … Continue reading →

Shadows result from interrupting light between its source and the target of its illumination, creating dark, two-dimensional silhouettes on a surface. A name given to the process of intentionally creating images—by controlling the distance between the light source and the … Continue reading →

Happy memories remind me who I could have been; painful memories confirm who I am. If the guilt embedded in painful memories could be erased, the memories, too, would disappear. So, any lessons learned from that guilt and those unpleasant … Continue reading →

The early morning sky remains dim and sleepy, waking from a long night. Steamy fog rises from the surface of a pond, blurring the images of egrets and herons standing in the water, just a few feet from shore. The … Continue reading →

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~ Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld ~ +++ One’s senses can be at odds with one another. … Continue reading →

Roughly fourteen years ago, I published a post on another of my personal blogs (one I have long-since ignored and essentially abandoned). Today, when I returned to that blog and that post, I was reminded that life changes quite a … Continue reading →

You and I are akin to passenger tires in some ways. If we experience some sort of damage, we can be patched in much the same way tires are repaired. Over time, though, the wear and tear of daily experience … Continue reading →

Sanity is a matter of perspective; relative to madness, normalcy, and a cluster of other factors. Behavior often signals insanity, but perfectly normal behavior—accompanied by radically deviant thought—sometimes offers clues to insanity. The term, insanity, is out of favor these … Continue reading →

We cling to one another in the mistaken belief that expressing our collective disappointment will give us a voice to which “they” will listen…as if our little pods of rage and fear will breed in us strength and power. We … Continue reading →

Identical images, seen through the same eyes, evoke radically different emotional responses, depending on the viewer’s frame of mind. In once instance, inconsolable sadness emerges at the sight of a photo of Earth from the International Space Station. Another view … Continue reading →

Ach, the wretched souls who react in terrified deference to monsters who make threats in thundering voices! The poor innocents who fear the oppressors’ spit-shined, steel-toed boots and cringe at the tyrants’ relentless intimidation! The time will come for those … Continue reading →

Artists of all kinds—painters and writers and sculptors and more—can choose freedom. Enjoying the privilege does not require that it be given to them—they do not need benefactors to bestow it upon them.  They can simply seize it. Because they … Continue reading →

On May 4, 1970, on the Kent State University campus, four students died and nine others were wounded (one of whom was permanently paralyzed) when 28 National Guard troops fired 67 rounds at a crowd of unarmed protesters and student … Continue reading →

I have heard variations on the admonition many times. The version that’s most meaningful to me is this: “It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play the hand.” If the game is one you’ve never played—and one … Continue reading →