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Re: ODE TO COMMODE
Editor’s note: This is a response (written 12/17) to my commentary on this essay. This was the commentary — A moving piece, to be sure. I wonder though — the toilet might have been the last thing Pop saw, but I wonder about some of the other absolutes. What’s the prettiest thing that he remembers…
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RADIATORS BOILING OVER
As I am dictating this essay, it is approaching the end of October. When I worked in the filling station business, the people who owned the filling stations ordinarily would set out to buy antifreeze at this time of year. As everyone will recall, the radiators on automobiles are almost always located near the front…
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I DECLARE
If my mother had lived, she would now be 131 years old. But of course she didn’t live. Curiously as I grow older I am given to thoughts about my mother. I suppose we enjoyed a normal relationship as much as could be expected under the circumstances. My mother came from Golconda in Pope County,…
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YOU KNOW AND ON ME
As I have told you on several occasions, my friend Sven Lernevall, a resident of Stockholm, often told me that “English is a rich language.” Listening to the President of the United States who speaks extemporaneously, he frequently resorts to the words, “you know.” The fact of the matter is that I don’t know. If…
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MARBLES
The genesis for this essay had to do with a remark made to me by Dr. Andrew Beamer following our most recent discussion. In essence, Dr. Beamer said that I had all of my marbles and seemed to have held onto them late in life. I am not quite certain that Dr. Beamer is right…
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IOWA AND BLIND PEOPLE
Apparently the sheriffs in the great state of Iowa have an inordinate amount of power. Among other things, they can determine which blind person will be issued a gun permit. Most of those applying for a gun permit as blind people say that it is for target shooting. None of them say that it is…
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IRA HUDAS: A SOMETIME SOLDIER
It is peculiar or perhaps amusing to find that one memory prompts another one. I am writing this on September 17 which is the day after the horrible tragedy at the Washington Naval Yard. In this case, the memory that has been revived goes back to 1942. If my mathematics are correct, which are not…
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GIFTY’S SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT
As some of my readers know, I have employed home health aides as a means of avoiding institutional care. I require help during the evening and midnight hours. Among other things, my ability to stand up or get up during the night time is limited. During the course of an evening, I may stand up…
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Grub
I have been writing these essays for the last 16 years. It all started with an injury to my brain which impaired my speech as a result of a stroke in 1997. I started writing these essays and somehow after 764 such essays, I have still continued. As a matter of fact, I seem at…
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TALKING IN TONGUES
Browsing through The New York Times yesterday, August 17th, Miss Chicka read to me a story that was datelined Accra, Ghana. Furthermore, it had to do with talking in tongues, which is a hallmark of the Pentecostal faith which is one of the Christian Protestant churches. This story had two attractions for me. In the…