As I Was Saying…

Chatter, memories and rants. Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this one before.





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I Don't Have an iPod, But My Mom Does

Confessions from the New New Frontier

Writing what you know

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - 3:32 pm - I come from a very close-knit family, and when I left Maine and moved to New York, it was a big deal. Pestering me about coming home became part of the routine on holidays, a campaign headed up by my grandmother. “Why do you want to be down there, so far from everything?” she would [...]

A rebuttal

Monday, October 6, 2008 - 11:05 pm - Since I was quite young, I have been told that I have an “artistic temperament.” By some, that was a compliment: I was sensitive, insightful, and curious. By others, it was not a particularly good review. When I made known my intention to be an English major to the professor of my freshman drama seminar, [...]

Recovery, day one: Check.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 10:45 pm - My mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer about a week and a half ago. It was a total surprise and my family have been reeling a bit as the reality has set in. An ultrasound confirmed our fears: that the cancer was aggressive and had spread throughout her abdominal cavity, but that the doctor wouldn’t [...]

Life, underground

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - 9:04 pm - A recent move to Boston has given me, among other things, a new fickle friend: the T.  I think that “the T” refers only to the subway system. People don’t “get on the T” and head for the bus. But as I haven’t found a name that encompasses the whole Boston area transit system (besides MBTA, [...]

A Sunny Morning

August 15, 2008

It’s a simple thing, but after what seems like weeks of rain, a sunny morning is a realy big deal. When I was a kid, I used to hear people say, “If you don’t like the weather here in Maine, wait five minutes.” There is a lot of truth in that most of the time, but not so much lately. Unless, that is, you insist on maintaining clear distinctions between and among all the kinds of lousy. Over the past few weeks, our local weather menu has offered the following:

  • Cloudy and cold
  • Cloudy and humid
  • Cloudy and hot
  • Foggy, damp and cold
  • Fog and drizzle
  • Intermittent rain
  • Steady rain
  • Torrential rain
  • Thunder, lightning and hail
  • Coastal flooding
  • High ozone
  • Particulate pollution

So a sunny morning is a treat. Actually, was a treat. A nice morning made me so damn lazy that it took me all day and into the evening to get back to this little rant and finish it.

4 Responses to “A Sunny Morning”

  1. Natasha Says:

    Hi!
    Nice blog! In fact, I stumbled upon your website incidentally, and I’d like you to visit, and perhaps think, of joining us at http://www.womenetcetera.com, a site for slightly older women who live passionately, learn new things, live through new experiences, possess a strong enduring spirit, embrace transitions and change with the times! You fit the bill! Do join us!

  2. Cowtown Pattie Says:

    Wait a minute…I thought that old sage saying was about TEXAS…

  3. Pete Says:

    Don’t think I could pass the physical, Natasha, but thanks for the invitation!

  4. Pete Says:

    Pattie,

    One day when I was in grad school, I was sitting beside my friend Clay from Texas when the professor quoted Thoreau: “We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”

    Clay and I had a great deal to communicate and stay in touch off and off now more than 40 years later.

    Texas and Maine are a LOT alike, although Texans and Mainers look and sound quite different. You have to have spent time in both places to appreciate the connection. Maybe it has to do with both states having taken novel routes to statehood!

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