The Pond

In this pond of placid water,
Half a hundred years ago,
So they say, a farmer’s daughter,
Jilted by her farmer beau,

Waded out among the rushes,
Scattering the blue dragon-flies;
That dried stick the ripple washes
Marks the spot, I should surmise.

Think, so near the public highway,
Well frequented even then!
Can you not conceive the sly way,—
Hearing wheels or seeing men

Passing on the road above,—
With a gesture feigned and silly,
Ere she drowned herself for love,
She would reach to pluck a lily?

Edna St. Vincent Millay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Enough at Last

Time Enough at Last

 

Remember Henry Bemis, a bookish little man with thick horn-rimmed glasses wants only one thing out of life; the time to read.  Fortunately  the Series of Unfortunate Events in Henry’s life is fiction. His lot in life was permanent. Ours is not.  Even as corona-virus (2019-NCoV) surrounds us in trepidation and apprehension for now, there will be a welcome conclusion soon.  Isolate,self-quarantine or simply practice social distancing are some advice.  So,  Time enough at last is upon us. Make of it what you will. For me, reading is the order of the day. Usually at arms’ length, are Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Richard Dawkins, Sean Carroll, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nick Lane, etc.  A few days ago, they were to be found back in the book case. As John Prine said, “I’m across the river on the other side of town
In my mind I’m on the other side of town”.  I needed to go some place far away and fiction was the finest initiative. When I was a kid, I only read books and magazines resting on science or nature. Then one day, I found a treasure trove concealed in our attic. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, On the Beach, Nevil  Shute, Johnny Got His Gun,  by Dalton Trumbo. and many other great finds as well, including  John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Emily Elizabeth DickinsonMark Twain to name a few. Years later I found out the previous owners son, was an avid reader.  Soon my science, nature books and magazines, gathered dust, but only temporarily.

 

So, these are the order of the day for now.

 

Latest Reads

“A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called “leaves”) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.” – Carl Sagan

In the late 70’s and early 1980s, I became interested in Archeology.  I had taken several classes more or less just for fun. A good friend of mine, Ken Moore, a photojournalist,  of Taunton, MA, and local Archeologist,  would often take me on his expeditions across Massachusetts.  Later, as I had always an interest in food and nutrition, I decided to go into the field of culinary imagination.  I had taken courses at UMass Dartmouth, or Southeastern Mass University as it was known then.  Chef Bows, put the notion in my head, to merge both Archeology and Nutrition in my studies.  Which I did. Its now called Nutritional Anthropology.  I studied, as best as I could, Native American Indian “diets and nutrition” of Massachusetts.   After Ken died, I decided to put Archeology on the back  burner for a while, (he had all the connections) Ken had introduced me to many distinguished scholars and I was very grateful to him.   I stayed with the food service  for years, as both Chef and dietitian.   And then,  computer science and forensic photography.  That’s a story for another time. After retirement, I resumed my education with studies in Geology, Environmental Science, Ecological Principles and Field Methods, along with Environmental Research Methods. I my received a degree in April 2018.  My wife constantly tells me to further my education. Maybe she just wants me out of the house.

I continue to have the love of Archeology, and you can still find me in the field every now and then with the grandchildren, or my wife. And listen silently, to Chloe asking, “can we bring those bugs home gram pa”

Chloe my youngest grandchild was once digging a hole in my back yard. I asked her what she was doing.  “digging a hole to China skippy” was her answer.  7 years old.  Most determined kid I know. You see her in this blog often.

Abbey is our Physics and Biology major. But she is my Granddaughter first and foremost.  Her skills as a video editor are (Mac & Windows) is unsurpassed.