The best I can tell you is no. There is no comparison to places I have never seen before. I have nothing to compare them to.
I can only imagine though, which I have.
I have dreamt and wondered about the sight of Southern Italy or to the look of the Amalfi Coast, Positano, Sorrento, Solerno, or to view the cave-like caverns at Grotta Dello Smeraldo.
Safe to say I have wondered what it would be like to eat at or sit in one of the little shoppes and hear the faint sound of guitar music playing from the street. Or north of here and up the coastline, I assume there is a different feel to the beaches at Portofino. I wonder what it is like to stay at a hotel at the Abbazia di San Fruttuoso or go further north to Genoa or San Remo.
I suppose there is no comparison to what the sea must look like between here and Corsica.
I have always wondered about the culture of these places, or, if in fact my culture has improved, simply because I know about these things.
From “The Boys” An Elegy Of An Old Life
My collection began on June 1, 2006. I was alone for the first time and unsupervised to say the least. This was the first time I was single.
There was no one in my life to help guide or govern my decisions. I had moved back to my hometown to find a sense of comfort in an uncomfortable time.
All that I had known was gone. My list of friends and social influences were different. My finances were different and so was the structure of my day. There was no one but me and a small place of my own.
Time For Motivation
The truth is everyone finds themselves at a point where they look around in disbelief. They see themselves at a downfall and they wonder where things went wrong.
No one gets away from life without a scratch or a bruise. Everyone falls. Everyone trips or slips and hits the ground.
Even winners lose sometimes. Believe it.
At one point or another, we have all seen or watched someone rise from their own ashes. We have seen people recover and overcome to push themselves to success.
The fact is people are truly an incredible species. However, we often find ourselves caught in our own doubts and denials, which keeps us from reaching our best possible life.
From the Boys: Nostalgia
It seems like this must have been a lifetime ago. The group of us have all moved away and branched out in different parts of the country. Some of us grew older. Some of us grew apart and some submerged in the winds of anonymity.
There are rare occasions that come up which incline us all to get together. But aside from this, life has taken shape for us all. People moved on. They found careers and built lives for themselves. They built homes and families and yet, somehow, no matter where we go or how far we move away, we will always be old friends from the neighborhood.
A Night In The City
The city is so different to me now. Or maybe this is only me. Maybe she is exactly the same, which, let’s face it. She really is.
The streets have the same names. The names on the buildings might have changed. The decorations are a little different now, but the avenues are still the avenues and the cobblestones downtown are the same as they’ve always been.
Continue readingRed Light, Green Light 1, 2, 3
I still say there is no theft worse than the theft of a childhood. I say that empty ball fields and playgrounds are a travesty. I say the act of playing or swinging on swing sets is a birthright.
I say that every kid must get dirty. This is essential. Kids should have to know what it means to scream as loud as they possibly can and run around as wild as they can be. Games are important. Playing is important. Imagination is just as important to the mind as air is to the lungs or food is to the belly. Nothing should ever get in the way of this.
Daybreak
There was a picture I saw of the beach this morning. The sun was coming up and the sky was all orange and purple. I thought to myself about the last time — when was it?
I couldn’t remember. I can’t remember the last time I felt my toes in the sand. It was San Diego, I think.
The morning was all hazy and gray at first. There were a length or rock piles that reached from the shoreline and went out several yards into the Pacific. The waves crashed here, which was perfect to create the sound effects of a shoreline daydream.
I never saw a sunrise like this before.
A Little Birdie Told Me
There is a deck that runs around the upper level at the back of my home. The view faces the Cobus, Horse Stable, and the Catamount, and Panther Mountains. It’s a nice view. I think you would like it.
Continue readingLetters From A Son: Mother’s Day, May 10, 2020
At a time like this, I ask myself, “What would Mom say?”
With everything that goes on and with the world in a “time-out,” so-to-speak, I wonder what Mom would say about all this.
I assume Mom would tell me not to worry. I am sure Mom would tell me, “this too shall pass.” She would always say this when times were bad.
Anxiety and the Thought Machine
Nothing is ever comfortable when anxiety hits. As someone that understands anxiety first hand, I have made it a point to reach out to others that struggle with this as well. I wanted to speak with people that live with different anxiety disorders or struggle with panic attacks.
As a means to learn more, I shared text threads with small groups of people that reached out when the anxiety hit.
This was not done as a professional by any means. Instead, the groups and conversations were used to gain a better perspective. Plus, I wanted to learn helpful tactics to help myself as well as others. More than anything, I wanted to understand what works best.
The Written Addiction 