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MILITARY MATTERS
Now that I am of such an advanced age that the Army of the United States or the United States Army cannot call me to return to active duty, there are two matters that I would like to discuss this morning. The first has to do with being a volunteer and the second has to…
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AGAIN, THE LANGUAGE OF THE AMERICANS
As most of you know, I am an astute observer of the language that was inherited by our ancestors, which had its origination first in the Saxon people and then in the English. Perhaps this essay should be classified as an essayette. But that is a concern for another day. There are three entries in…
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THE SILVER DOLLAR BLUES
I am going to reach into racetrack terms to introduce this essay. At tracks where horses and dogs race each other, there is a highlight of the afternoon called the Trifecta. This means that when a bettor picks the winners of the Trifecta, he will be rewarded with extra cash. I have been to the…
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SUMMERS AND/OR SOMMERS
I have consulted with grammar experts here and in New York City and the general conclusion is that the title to this essay is something like an adverb. I was largely unschooled on the matter of grammar in the English language. So if there is a mistake in the labeling of this title as an…
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WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU…
It may come as a surprise to some younger readers that there was a time in this country when there was no such thing as instant communications. As a matter of fact, my family did not have a telephone until some time in the vicinity of 1935. My mother, who was home all day, was…
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TURNING BACK THE HANDS OF TIME
It is common knowledge that as men grow older, their bodies perform less well. That is of course a fact of life. But medical science will not end until the ends of time are reversed. Men of 75 or so will act as though time had not done its work of deterioration on their bodies.…
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MY OWN LITTLE MAPLE TREE
In 1969, I was enjoying my life as a lobbyist in Washington for the great AT&T Company. As summer was about to turn into fall, the great AT&T Company decided that my talents were needed back in New York. Time was short as my two children were required to return to school. When I came…
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TIME
Perhaps I should spend more time in my bathroom in view of the fact that the preponderance of ideas that occur for these essays come to me during my bathroom visits. I am not alone in extolling the virtues of the bathroom. John Munro, the wonderfully gifted artist and composer, wrote a song not long…
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THE RHODE ISLAND RED ROOSTER
From the beginning to the end, this essay embraces about 85 years of the life of the author. On the other hand, this essay embraces perhaps 40 years of the life of the red rooster that is the title of this piece. During the last half of the 1920s, my father was employed by the…
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BOA CONSTRICTORS REDUX
[A quite note from Kevin — This is now the third essay in this, er, saga. Check out parts one and two first. Part one was about both dicks and snakes, part two was mainly about dicks, and now part three concerns primarily snakes.] ~~~ The word redux is a fancy one and it simply…