I live five miles from my boyhood home. I had an idyllic childhood. When it comes to parents, I won the Powerball. So from time to time I drive past my childhood home and the neighborhood because it brings back so many sweet memories. In fact, this week I connected with the girl, now older woman, who grew up across the street. She had no siblings and we were like brother and sister.
When I visit my home I see the same bushes and shrubbery my Dad planted 77 years ago. He taught me how to use garden tools on those. They are still there is pristine condition as is the house because the people who have lived there for 33 years have taken such pride in it. I will continue to drive past every year or so because the connection I have to the house and neighborhood is warm, deep and everlasting.
The past is a luxury; I wonder how many can get there with clarity.
As a historian, I have the good fortune of positioning my past in a spectrum of narratives.
As a survivor of what is now finally being recognized by some to have been American fascism's proving ground, I was lucky to separate the delusional cultural vortex of anger and greed, from my own upbringing on the estuary, where the quantum was visible in every tide, season, and storm.
The door I cannot afford to walk through or past, the one between the road and the river, will always be there, until the whole estuary is underwater.
Yet, I do remember the sounds, colors, and lessons learned there, where Nature was the whole and infinite, and Culture was just a speck of it, not equal or seperate.
I have a degree from (Radcliffe College)/Harvard University with a concentration in English Literature. You could run a nice tutorial class on Emily Dickinson you know; perhaps you missed your calling~😉
Well, a PhD is nothing to be sneezed at. I got to be a licensed professional architect and then ended up quitting ( didn’t renew the license because I quit my job etc. etc.) because I got married, had two kids and couldn’t afford childcare. It’s good to be a polymath. Right now I’m annoyed because there’s so much I want to learn about (like higher mathematics and computer programming) but I’m so busy agitating about politics that I can’t relax and focus on anything else. I practice Buddhist meditation just to retain a small semblance of sanity.
I live five miles from my boyhood home. I had an idyllic childhood. When it comes to parents, I won the Powerball. So from time to time I drive past my childhood home and the neighborhood because it brings back so many sweet memories. In fact, this week I connected with the girl, now older woman, who grew up across the street. She had no siblings and we were like brother and sister.
When I visit my home I see the same bushes and shrubbery my Dad planted 77 years ago. He taught me how to use garden tools on those. They are still there is pristine condition as is the house because the people who have lived there for 33 years have taken such pride in it. I will continue to drive past every year or so because the connection I have to the house and neighborhood is warm, deep and everlasting.
Marc, that resonates and loudly with me.
The past is a luxury; I wonder how many can get there with clarity.
As a historian, I have the good fortune of positioning my past in a spectrum of narratives.
As a survivor of what is now finally being recognized by some to have been American fascism's proving ground, I was lucky to separate the delusional cultural vortex of anger and greed, from my own upbringing on the estuary, where the quantum was visible in every tide, season, and storm.
The door I cannot afford to walk through or past, the one between the road and the river, will always be there, until the whole estuary is underwater.
Yet, I do remember the sounds, colors, and lessons learned there, where Nature was the whole and infinite, and Culture was just a speck of it, not equal or seperate.
Andrew, that is powerful and thank you for that.
I have a degree from (Radcliffe College)/Harvard University with a concentration in English Literature. You could run a nice tutorial class on Emily Dickinson you know; perhaps you missed your calling~😉
Thank you for that and perhaps I did miss my calling. I often think about that.
Well, a PhD is nothing to be sneezed at. I got to be a licensed professional architect and then ended up quitting ( didn’t renew the license because I quit my job etc. etc.) because I got married, had two kids and couldn’t afford childcare. It’s good to be a polymath. Right now I’m annoyed because there’s so much I want to learn about (like higher mathematics and computer programming) but I’m so busy agitating about politics that I can’t relax and focus on anything else. I practice Buddhist meditation just to retain a small semblance of sanity.
Do even more Buddhist meditation. It really helps me and you can't do too much.