Author Archives: John Swinburn

If news of the enormous August 2020 explosion of parts of the grain silos at the port of Beirut reached my eyes and ears, I do not remember. I suspect I never heard details of the catastrophe that killed more … Continue reading →

This morning, I am scheduled to visit my primary care doctor’s office, where his nurse practitioner will grill me about my recent experience in the hospital, after having been taken to the ER by ambulance. Frankly, I am not sure … Continue reading →

I love to be nudged into examining issues from new perspectives; to look into matters from unfamiliar points of view. That provocation is almost always at play when I watch BBC Reel videos. Yesterday morning, after my walk up and … Continue reading →

A fresh, hot cup of coffee. Another smoldering cone of patchouli incense filling my study with a scent that awakens memories of years ago. On my desk, evidence of procrastination abounds—so many little things left to tidy up, paperwork obligations … Continue reading →

I want never to lose my sense of awe and surprise. I want never to erase from my psyche a sense of childhood wonder at the natural world. Too many old men and women seem to have abandoned the carefree … Continue reading →

Map out your future – but do it in pencil. ~ Jon Bon Jovi ~ The ashes of a cone of incense, burned two days ago, remain on the corner of my desk, proof of my indolence—I should have disposed … Continue reading →

I have always claimed to welcome change. To relish it, in fact. To lean into it with great expectations. But sometimes I find myself resisting change for no apparent reason. It is as if change represents a discomforting disturbance to … Continue reading →

I demolish my bridges behind me—then there is no choice but forward. ~ Fridtjof Nansen ~ +++ Compare a cup of coffee—the way it tastes and makes you feel—to the sensation of sitting alone in an open-air convertible automobile on … Continue reading →

I should not have attempted to write yesterday’s post, while moderately incoherent and under the influence of painkillers and sleep deprivation. Using my one-finger typing on my cell phone, to boot, made the message doubly irrational and laced with typos. … Continue reading →

July 24. 4:50 a.m. For the umpteenth time, Sandy extracted blood. For the exponential tum Angel took my temperature and checked my blood pressure. The doctors earliest determined my ailment is not Crohn’s disease…at least not this expression of sickness. … Continue reading →

A snippet of fiction commanded me this morning to unleash it from the cage inside my head. It’s only a tiny fragment of what must be hidden inside my brain, but it claims there’s more where it came from. I … Continue reading →

I woke sometime around 3 this morning, thanks to being completely stopped up. I thought about getting up only for a while, until my sinuses decided to cooperate with my breathing. But I changed my mind. So, here I am … Continue reading →

There was a time when works of fiction were far more adept at capturing my imagination than were revelations about historical events. While fiction remains an important force in keeping my inquisitiveness and creativity alive, well-told stories of earth-changing historical … Continue reading →

Sometimes the draw of isolation in the wee hours is stronger than the comfortable pull of the sheets. As I write this, it’s not quite 3 in the morning, when I’ve been up for almost an hour. I hope to … Continue reading →

I want to be remembered as the man I wanted to be, not the man I was. ~ Confidential ~ +++ Some people seem capable of ignoring their flaws, as if flaws did not matter in the least. Others appear … Continue reading →

Words are made for a certain exactness of thought, as tears are for a certain degree of pain. What is least distinct cannot be named; what is clearest is unutterable. ~ Rene Daumal ~ The fictional Arkansas town I created … Continue reading →

No matter how well-mannered you are—no matter how clean and pure your your thoughts and actions—no matter how distasteful you find violence or pornography or public displays of intimate behaviors that you believe belong only in the privacy of one’s … Continue reading →

Art surrounds us, providing an impetus to maintain our struggles to understand who and what we are. Art is embedded in everything we see and feel and taste and smell and hear. Even in the rare absence of deliberate art, … Continue reading →

The distance between two places measures separation. The distance between two points of view implies the same. But, with contemplation and conversation, points of view can change and even merge. But places, whether in close proximity or remote from one … Continue reading →

Last night, as we watched another episode of The Sopranos, we heard the shriek of the NOAA weather radio  from the other end of the house. It was too far away to catch what the automated voice said after hearing … Continue reading →

Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. ~ Miguel de Cervantes ~ I came across a fascinating article yesterday on the BBC.com website. The article, entitled How does wildlife find garden ponds?, referenced studies that suggest the degree … Continue reading →

A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves. ~ Marcel Proust ~ Despite the cool temperature (68°F), when I walk outside the day feels warm and oppressive to me. I suppose that is because the … Continue reading →

Very hot weather—kept at bay by air conditioners and ample supplies of clean water— illustrates good fortune as well as anything else. The ability to elude temperatures climbing toward and above the century mark emphasizes why gratitude for the “little … Continue reading →

A follow-up appointment with my primary care physician’s office. An initial appointment with an orthopedist. A follow-up visit with the thoracic surgeon. A therapeutic massage. Scheduling appointments with a cardiologist, a urologist, a pulmonologist, and God knows who else. The … Continue reading →

Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations. ~ Alan Watts ~ +++ Housing. Investments. Choosing places to live … Continue reading →