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Author Archives: John Swinburn
April 12: Thoughts for the Day
One definition of the word ranch is: “a large farm used primarily to raise one kind of crop or animal.” A rancher is “a person who owns or works on a ranch.” No matter what technique I use to determine … Continue reading
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
3 Comments
Grey into Green
As we drove along winding roads and crept through sparse residential areas yesterday, getting acquainted with the terrain and adjusting to a new environment, we spoke about the coming transformation. We spoke not of the transformation coming as a result … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
2 Comments
April 11: Thoughts for the Day
Anger can fester and grow into an impossible foe. At this moment, I hope I can conquer the unbeatable foe.
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
2 Comments
Gullibility Exposed
How could I have lived so long without knowing that “welcome wagon” was a business and not simply volunteers enlisting the support of local businesses in welcoming new neighbors? I had always assumed it was the term used to describe a group … Continue reading
Posted in Gullibility, Moving
4 Comments
April 10: Thoughts for the Day
If you’re conscious of the fact that a specific amount of time must pass before something occurs, you’re waiting for that occurrence. If you dismiss that consciousness and simply let things happen when they happen, you lose wait.
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Good Fortune
Some days, I have to kick myself for failing to adequately appreciate how incredibly fortunate I am. Today is not one of those days. Today, for reasons too convoluted to go into in a short blog post, the breadth and … Continue reading
Posted in Love, Philosophy, Thanksgiving, Wisdom
2 Comments
April 9: Thoughts for the Day
Be steadfast only on issues that truly matter. Adjust and adapt. Everyone, you included, will be the happier for it.
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Memory Triggers
It nags at me, not every day, but frequently enough to make me wonder what it is that causes me to dwell on it. I know what triggers it. It’s reading about or hearing someone talk about a memory of … Continue reading
Posted in Memories
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Distant Thunder
Bone-shattering claps of thunder, accompanied by brilliant flashes of lightning, awaken in me a sense of awe and wonder and appreciation for the power of the natural world. I can sit for hours watching wave after wave of thunderstorms pass, … Continue reading
Posted in Sense of place, Weather
2 Comments
April 8: Thoughts for the Day
Scale has such an impact on perception. I can imagine how different the tables and chairs in this room would appear to me if I were six inches tall. They would seem to be massive works of stunning architecture, rather … Continue reading
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Kroger and Such
We had a lot to do today; visited our Realtor’s office to trade documents, went to our soon-to-be-home to view the “trip hazard” that we may or may not want to fix, and went wandering all over the village, trying … Continue reading
Posted in Food
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The Questions Remain
A scene can play out before your eyes in very different ways. You wait impatiently in your car for an old woman to cross the street as she slowly pulls a grocery cart, cursing under your breath at the fact that … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Wisdom
1 Comment
April 7: Thoughts for the Day
I was watching news on CNN a few nights ago and was struck by the number of people, both CNN staff and people being interviewed, with very distinct foreign language accents. Every one of them, quite obviously, is at least … Continue reading
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
2 Comments
Of Pizza and Beer and Songs and Darkness and Change
Last night, after a 13-hour, 656 mile marathon trip to retrieve boxes and assorted other stuff we left behind in storage, we had dinner at Charlie’s Pizza Pub, which I learned from its Facebook page moved to its “new old … Continue reading
Posted in Change, Food, Sense of place
5 Comments
April 6: Thoughts for the Day
If I had children, they would have good manners, else they would have time in shackles to mull over their poor manners.
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
4 Comments
Long-Distance Courier Service
Today will be a day of long distance driving; a 650-mile round trip to retrieve more “stuff” from the city in which we used to live. We’ll get boxes of files, an upright vacuum cleaner, an iced-tea maker, boxes … Continue reading
April 5: Thoughts for the Day
If I were like some people, I would complain about the birds that sing so loudly and so sweetly very early in the morning. But I’m not like those people. And I won’t. I worship the music those birds make. … Continue reading
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Adjustments
Living in one place for a long time allows a person to get comfortable with all sorts of things: the fastest way to get from point A to point B; the “best” television stations for weather forecasts; the television channel … Continue reading
Posted in Friendship, Happiness, Moving, Philosophy, Sense of place
2 Comments
April 4: Thoughts for the Day
Thank you. That’s really all I wanted to say. And I mean it.
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
2 Comments
Brisket
Last night, we were treated to an excellent meal of mesquite-smoked brisket and all the appropriate condiments, German potato salad, and green salad, capped off with very good dessert. Not to mention some truly fine beer. And we started the … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Friendship
3 Comments
April 3: Thoughts for the Day
Prisms refract light in much the same way prisons refract life.
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Friends
It’s 5:30a.m. and I’m sitting at the kitchen counter in our friends’ very nice house, thinking how fortunate I am that they are such gracious people. They are allowing us to stay with them for a couple of nights while … Continue reading
Posted in Friendship, Moving
2 Comments
April 2: Thoughts for the Day
“You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.” “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” The first quote is from Dorothy Parker. The second one is sometimes said to be from … Continue reading
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April 1: Thoughts for the Day
The pressures associated with a household move are nothing in comparison to the pressures associated with starvation, war, famine, or social unrest. At least that’s what I’ve been told. So I shouldn’t complain. But I will, nonetheless. Won’t I?
Posted in Thoughts For the Day
4 Comments
March 31: Thoughts for the Day
It doesn’t matter that dogs may not actually be smiling at you, the fact that you THINK they are smiling at you is enough.
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