Category Archives: Memories

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

Posted on July 9, 2020 by John Swinburn

Back to my old habits. Up before 4:00 a.m., ready to face the day. The tune and lyrics to an old song were among my first thoughts this morning: Well everybody’s heart needs a holiday, some time And everyone of … Continue reading →

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Exhuming Memories

Posted on April 20, 2020 by John Swinburn

This morning, my creativity is at a low ebb. Instead of attempting to write something that would surely be hollow and dark, I’ll remember mornings when I felt more energy and more passion than I do at this moment by … Continue reading →

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Barbara, Fill in that 40-Year Gap

Posted on March 30, 2020 by John Swinburn

On New Year’s Day this year, after taking a short respite from my blog, I returned to it to find a comment on a mid-December post. The comment was from a person with whom I had had no contact for … Continue reading →

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Conjecture

Posted on March 24, 2020 by John Swinburn

My mind wandered deep into my past this morning, suddenly and for no apparent reason. In my mind’s eye, I saw images of items I probably last saw when I was a very young child. I remembered tiny replicas of … Continue reading →

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I’m Not Going to Work Today

Posted on March 17, 2020 by John Swinburn

On Labor Day several years ago, my wife and I listened to the Glenn Mitchell Show as we drove around Dallas. I was enthralled by Mitchell’s talk show, especially his “Anything You Ever Wanted to Know” segment; the tag line … Continue reading →

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Surprise Memories

Posted on March 1, 2020 by John Swinburn

Years ago, when I was executive director of an association then called the International Association of Auditorium Managers (now International Association of Venue Managers), I had an awful experience. We were in the midst of our annual conference when an … Continue reading →

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Memories of Physical and Emotional Pain

Posted on December 14, 2019 by John Swinburn

I once was referred to a neurological specialist who, the referring specialist doctor said, would attempt to “replicate the pain” I had earlier felt in my neck and shoulder. Instantly, I decided against accepting the referral because I did not … Continue reading →

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Into the Wind

Posted on July 27, 2019 by John Swinburn

We allow our histories to melt into nothing. We permit memories to dissolve and fade and disappear. I have evidence of such things. Let me explain. The Sandpipers. Do you remember them? They constituted a trio that sang popular folk … Continue reading →

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My Father was a Carnivorous Xylopolist: A Rambling Recollection

Posted on July 8, 2019 by John Swinburn

Yes, my father was a xylopolist. I did not know that until just a short while ago. Somehow, some way, I stumbled across the word online. I didn’t recognize it, so I looked it up. It wasn’t in the free … Continue reading →

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Border Child

Posted on January 27, 2019 by John Swinburn

As a child, I never really understood how close to the border we lived. But Google Maps put it in perspective. We lived considerably less than a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border, defined by a river, the Rio Grande. Maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in Memories, Mexico | 3 Comments

A Proper Burial

Posted on October 7, 2018 by John Swinburn

Long ago, a friend taught me the meaning of the phrase “you die twice” and I wrote about it. I’ll get to that in a moment. It surprises me that the very modest traffic that reaches this blog usually gets … Continue reading →

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In Memory of My Mother on Her Birthday

Posted on September 28, 2018 by John Swinburn

September 28, 1908. That’s when my mother was born. Were she still alive, she would have turned 110 years old today. She didn’t make it that far. She died thirty-two years ago, when she was 78 and I was 32.

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Old Home Week

Posted on July 26, 2018 by John Swinburn

We arrived at the fringes of Corpus Christi yesterday afternoon around 4:30, locating our newish hotel situated in an industrial district near the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetary.  All along Interstate 37, our route into the city, chemical and/or petrochemical … Continue reading →

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We Went Somewhere

Posted on April 4, 2018 by John Swinburn

A fellow blogger challenged a few other bloggers in a small band of writers to write about a memorable trip with my special someone. I thought long and hard about it. I’ve had so many memorable adventures with my wife, … Continue reading →

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Stronger Than I Thought

Posted on March 23, 2017 by John Swinburn

I’ve broken out of my dry spell, discussed just two posts ago, I guess. First, it was the roadrunner, photos of which I posted earlier today, and now it’s a memory that haunts me and touches me in ways I cannot … Continue reading →

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A Roundabout Tribute to Maggie Roche

Posted on January 24, 2017 by John Swinburn

I’m a fervent admirer of a handful of musicians. People who know me may understand the depth of my admiration for Leonard Cohen, whose deeply meaningful poetry set to music moves me beyond anyone else’s art. Yet, even in the … Continue reading →

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In Memory of Gwen Ifill

Posted on November 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

When I want real news, real information, I turn to PBS. Though Bill Moyers and Jim Lehrer cemented my appreciation for PBS, I think I became addicted to the PBS Newshour because of Gwen Ifill. I sensed an exceptional commitment … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Memories | 1 Comment

Someone Else’s Memories

Posted on November 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

A few minutes ago, dressed only in a t-shirt, gym shorts, and rubber flip-flops, I scurried outside with my camera, in forty degree temperatures, to take a picture of the Super Moon. My attempt to capture an historical event was unsuccessful; … Continue reading →

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Trapped in a Mine

Posted on October 12, 2016 by John Swinburn

Today, while looking through old notebooks, I came across a note I wrote six years ago. Late in the evening of October 12, 2010. The note, dated October 12, 2010 and marked with the time I wrote it 10:28 p.m. read, … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Emotion, Memories | 2 Comments

Beneath the Daylight Streets

Posted on October 7, 2016 by John Swinburn

When I lived in Chicago, the fact that Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive—both main streets in the thriving downtown/loop area—had multiple levels fascinated me. The pedestrian stairway entrances descending to those streets were my introductions to multi-level streets in the … Continue reading →

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Man of Leisure

Posted on September 8, 2016 by John Swinburn

Last night, as I watched a bit of Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, an image from a show guest’s childhood—an image in which the guest was wearing a leisure suit—resurrected in me a long-lost memory. I once owned a leisure suit; maybe … Continue reading →

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Not So Long Ago

Posted on September 2, 2016 by John Swinburn

Blogging is rewarding in sometimes unexpected ways. It can trigger memories that one might otherwise lose in the mist of time. While I use my blogs to capture ideas and emotions, I also use them to document moments of my life. On … Continue reading →

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Missing Pieces

Posted on June 23, 2016 by John Swinburn

Other people remember their seventeenth and eighteenth and nineteenth birthdays as milestones, landmarks of adventure to be remembered longingly as they glide through their senior years. Not I. Even when prompted by hearing stories of someone else’s ‘coming of age,’ I don’t … Continue reading →

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Wells and Old Motels

Posted on April 7, 2016 by John Swinburn

A story I saw in the news this morning, about a child rescued after falling down a deep well in China, triggered a memory about a similar event that took place in the 1980s in Texas. The memory led me … Continue reading →

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Stalking, Mies van der Rohe, and Roadrunners

Posted on March 27, 2016 by John Swinburn

Just a few minutes ago as I sat at my desk, I heard a familiar cooing sound. Until last year, I would have said it was like the call of a mourning dove; now I know better. This morning, I said … Continue reading →

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