-
“ENGLISH IS A RICH LANGUAGE” – (SVEN OF UMEǺ, CIRCA 1975)
Umeå is an important Swedish port on the upper reaches of the Baltic Sea. The pronunciation of its name has always been in doubt for those of us who do not speak Swedish. Some English speakers call it Oomea while others refer to it as Youmea. This is quite understandable in that Swen of Umeå…
-
PASSED BALLS AND WILD PITCHES
When anyone has lived as long as I have, it would be foolish to claim that there have not been some mistakes along the way. The Great Decider may differ with that conclusion, but he is busy trying to extricate the United States from the mess he has created in Iraq. These are some of…
-
MAKING FRIENDS
Making friends has always come easily to me. I find that a handshake and calling the other person by his name tends to open the door to new friendships. Showing an interest in what the other person is doing or where he has lived tends to promote that friendship. My father did not have that…
-
ON BECOMING ENSNARLED IN ONE’S OWN JOCKSTRAP
The title of this essay is perhaps misleading in that only a small portion of it has to do with athletic supporters. Primarily it has to do with the stupidity of the federal government and the great state of New Jersey in demanding that every automotive driver have a photograph on his driver’s license. This…
-
BELLS
After my essay on “Whistles” was completed, it struck me that as a matter of equity, there should be a story about bells. Bells and whistles are in the same family of sounds that enhance our lives. So here are my thoughts about bells. From my earliest days on the Lilac Roost Dairy Farm in…
-
WHISTLES
Almost all of my friends know that I am a pushover when it comes to trains. They also know that I am a pushover when it comes to folk songs. When those two are wed together, I am largely a basket case. That is what happens when it comes to whistles on trains, but there…
-
SOLDIER SPEAK
This is an essay about usages of the English language as employed by soldiers of Great Britain and secondly by soldiers of the United States. Kindly stay with me, rather than turning me aside on the ground that the language used in this essay is scatological and perhaps slightly lewd. Actually, it is nothing of…
-
FABIAN’S AMERICAN GRANDPA
In my life, which has gone on much longer than I ever expected it to, I thought that I had experienced the full range of emotions that occur to human beings. There have been moments of happiness and moments of sorrow. There have been moments that are neither happy nor sorrowful. But it took a…
-
PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE
[Note from Kevin: this is not a true “Ezra’s Essay.” The title was supplied by me; I hope Pop approves. Of course the rest of the essay was written by Pop but not for general publication. But as someone currently embroiled in the job search and having to meet people and speak quite a bit,…