Author Archives: John Swinburn

When I write fiction, I do not create characters. As they develop, they reveal who I am. They expose me at my core. Easily wounded, quick tempered, deeply flawed, empathetic, brutally uncaring, timid, quiet, loud, terminally sad, spontaneously silly, irresponsible, … Continue reading →

A few years ago, discussions about climate change and increasing sea levels suggested that future generations will have to wrestle with coastal erosion and inundation. I remember wondering whether scientists were right about the geologically quick, but still relatively slow, … Continue reading →

Several months ago, another blogger stumbled upon my blog and left a comment. I subsequently found his blog and decided to follow it. This blogger frequently shares insights and ideas from religious texts and other writers. This morning, his post … Continue reading →

The warmth of recent days has been just a tease. Daytime highs are expected to cool to the mid-fifties by Sunday, increasing to the low to mid sixties by Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and then slipping back to … Continue reading →

Out of curiosity, I went to Fox News online this morning to read what the network would say about yesterday’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion. Surprise. I found no mention of the settlement, which amounts to the network’s admission of … Continue reading →

Sometime later this month, we will drive to Dayton, Ohio. Unless we opt to travel the back roads—which is entirely possible—our eleven-hour trip will take us to Memphis, Nashville, Bowling Green, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Even keeping on main highways, we … Continue reading →

Be an island unto yourself. Take refuge in yourself and not in anything else. ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh ~ After reading that quote this morning, I suspect my mental wanderlust may be an unconscious expression of seeking the refuge to … Continue reading →

Once again, another new Spanish Netflix offering, The Innocent (el inocente), was on tap last night. And, once again, its cast included José Coronado, who we’ve seen in several Netflix offerings. His acting credits, which are extensive, include this small … Continue reading →

Emotions, both positive and negative, probably take a toll on both the body and the mind. The mental peaks and valleys emotions carve into one’s life experiences leave behind a kind of rubble that cannot be left behind or discarded. … Continue reading →

Today and tomorrow should be delightful, in terms of temperature—in the mid to upper seventies. But Sunday the high barely will reach into the sixties. I suppose deviations in either direction in temperature and other weather-related matters help us appreciate … Continue reading →

Melancholy. That word fits my mood like a glove. When nearly all of one’s memories seem bitter-sweet, melancholy assuredly is either the cause or the result. I suppose logic would tell me melancholy emerges from bitter-sweet memories. Yet that same … Continue reading →

Using standard, generally agreed measures, Time is consistent. It passes at the same rate from moment to moment and from millennia to millennia. So, if it is not Time that changes, what causes our (my, at least) experience of Time … Continue reading →

Tupperware is in danger of going out of business. The company is one of many that once seemed to me to have been permanent fixtures in the commercial landscape. But that permanence was illusory. Dozens of retail establishments I once … Continue reading →

I moved to Hot Springs Village in 2014, assuming the house we bought would be the last place I would live. But that assumption has since changed; the change manifested itself in the sale of the house my late wife … Continue reading →

More than half the day has disappeared, leaving only fragments behind—indistinct voices sharing indecipherable  secrets, smiles directed at unknown individuals who are hidden from view, barely disguised fantasies behind imaginary faces. There are many more remnants of the dwindling day, … Continue reading →

When I wake early, I usually relish the quiet. I enmesh myself in the peace of early morning darkness. I try to control my environment by focusing on the serenity of solitude. I am not completely successful with every attempt, … Continue reading →

Once again, I wrote and wrote and pondered and pondered, only to decide I was embroiled in a meaningless exercise with absolutely no value. So, instead, I will re-post something I wrote ten years ago: _________________________________________ Confusion, Perhaps It begins … Continue reading →

Several hundred words spilled from my fingers this morning, but after reading them to myself and thinking how they might be received by anyone happening upon them, I deleted them. Sometimes, words are inadequate to express emotions too complex to … Continue reading →

I just crawled out of a rabbit hole…the one I crawled into about half an hour ago. I am fairly easily distracted, evidence of which appears here most days. This morning’s distraction led me first to an Americanized version of … Continue reading →

We drove to Little Rock yesterday to pick up a semi-custom shirt; it was not quite right, so it will be modified and available to me in two weeks. As we drove down Chenal Parkway, we were stunned by the … Continue reading →

A dim, foggy morning laid waste to the solitude of predawn darkness. When I forced myself back to sleep in the early hours—despite wanting to get out of bed—I took an unnecessary risk. During the subsequent sleep, the currency of … Continue reading →

Phaedra, dressed in her protective post-surgery suit, walks with slow, plodding, doddering steps—punctuated with long pauses to recover the strength spent in moving just a few feet at a time.  Her movements suggest feline inebriation, but in fact the dual … Continue reading →

Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it. ~ Marcus Aurelius ~ I referenced these words, attributed to … Continue reading →

Solitude is voluntary. Loneliness is not. But the two can become unintentionally intertwined. They can coalesce into one another from either direction. Intentional solitude can lead to unexpected loneliness. And loneliness can cause a person to isolate—to avoid contact with … Continue reading →

Time. Though everyone is familiar with the word—whether in English or one of the roughly 6,500 other languages in use worldwide—most people infrequently give the concept of Time the deep and abiding attention it deserves. We measure it with clocks … Continue reading →