Author Archives: John Swinburn

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 →

I have always identified as a man. Never have I questioned that identity. That certainty notwithstanding, I also always have believed masculinity and femininity are not exclusively binary. But American society (and most others) equates certain attributes with “maleness” and … Continue reading →

Rolling Fork, Mississippi, mostly to the west of US Highway 61, is just beyond the northern edge of the Delta National Forest. The town is a few miles west of the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge. Until a few days … Continue reading →

Disputes about Daylight Savings time are making the news. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati decreed that clocks would not be move forward by an hour until April 20; in response, the Maronite Church said it would disregard the decision and … Continue reading →

Maybe it is the change of seasons—the fact that Winter is officially over and Spring is upon us (or, for those in the southern hemisphere, Summer just ended and Autumn has begun). I doubt the change of seasons in the … Continue reading →

One-fingered blogging. The only devices in the house with internet access are smartphones. With tiny keyboards designed for little-bitty people with itsy-bitzy fingers. The reason the usual internet devices are unavailable is that the loudest, most violent, damn-near-heart-stopping clap of … Continue reading →

A 12-hour sickness. That is the only way I can think of to describe my experience yesterday afternoon. Not long after I returned home from a meeting at church, I quite suddenly started feeling ill. I developed a headache, my … Continue reading →

For the second consecutive night, I was awake well before 4. In fact, I was awake before 3. And by 2. But I stayed in bed until roughly 3:25, determined to get to sleep. By 3:25, though, I recognized the … Continue reading →

Thanks to Phaedra, I woke about 3:45 this morning…well, it wasn’t entirely Phaedra’s doing. Whistling from my BiPap mask caused me to awaken, but Phaedra took advantage of the situation by stepping on my head. I was ready to get … Continue reading →

Mi novia probably has investigated you. She probably knows more about you than you have shared with her; maybe more than you have shared with your family. One of her hobbies tends to keep her investigative skills finely honed; she … Continue reading →