OS Fiction Weekend:The Christmas Tree 

  "Hurry up, Petey!" my father shouted as I grabbed for my coat.

             "Wait a minute, dad, I'm not ready yet!" I shouted back. "I can't find my boots!"… Read full post »

Flagpoles have always had a positive meaning  to them. They hold flags and most people like flags. They serve as symbols, such as national flags, or state flags, or corporate flags. We even hang flags of our favorite sports teams. But if you live in Iran, saluting the flag may have… Read full post »

Now that the smoke and dust have cleared, it is time to take a look at what happened when Hamas dared Israel to respond as they launched hundreds of Iranian-provided missiles into Israel.

The most obvious thing is that Hamas suffered enormous losses to their missile stockpiles. On the first… Read full post »

For OS Fiction Weekend, here is the first chapter of a novel called "Square Pegs." Hope you like it.

Square Pegs-- Chapter 1 

         Lonnie Callum and Jackie… Read full post »

Recently we had trouble with our cable company. It seems there was a prioblem that mainfested itself as "tiling" on the screen. The picture would literally dissolve into thousands of pixel tiles. My neighbor, also a photographer, and etremelly gifted, saw it as a chance for art. He began photographin… Read full post »

OS Fictiion Weekend:  

The Curse of the Shopping Spree

            The English language has approximately 500,000 words, and these words, in and of themselves, are quite… Read full post »

This image was taken standing on the dock behind the Steamboat Inn as you look towards the drawbridge with it's two giant caisson counterweights. Across the river are shops and a public park. It is and was a beautiful place to sit and watch the world float by...

     … Read full post »

I was standing on the big drawbridge with the 2 giant caisson counterweights. Behind me was the Mystic River, with some boats tied to the docks in front of million dollar condos. What a life. Let the good times roll!

                     … Read full post »

                      OS Fiction: A Chance of a Lifetime 

As the plane flew low over London’s rooftops, Richie West had no way of knowing that this would be his best day and his worst day. In fact, he had no idea that it… Read full post »

Fiction: A Better Place to Be

 Bennie Dean is a tiny little man with a crooked little smile who marks the passage of his day following the rituals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a Continuing Care Center. But do not be sad for Bennie Dean,… Read full post »

As any of you who have read my blog can attest, I have written many blog pieces about the Middle East and about the Iranian situation. As you also know, I have taken a respite from writing about the events gong on in and around the Persian Gulf for the past… Read full post »

There is a very cool museum located along the shore in Old Lyme, CT. It is the Florence griswold Museum-- the home of American Inpressionism. The main house is the quintessential example of Colonial architecture-- known as  "5-4 and a door" construction. There are five windows upstairs, four dow… Read full post »

Fat Cat learns that caring for others can change one's perceptions and one's attitudes for the better. And so, I present Fat Cat.

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                             … Read full post »

As I have often said, I don't like to cut and paste entire articles. But I came across this one from Videomaker online that focuses on those who videotape the police only to find themselves under arrest. It contains things you need to know, things you didn't know, and some additional… Read full post »

Riding The Line

         Rosie McClusky loved to ride the bus. She loved the way it wound its way through the sleepy city early in the morning and she loved the way it meandered back to her stop later in the afternoon. Rosie always sat on the right… Read full post »

While in New Orleans, I spotted a line of Harleys parked in the French Quarter. Though it was a good shot, I was fascinated by the chrome of the Harley's engine. So I cropped the photo. It is far more interesting. Here it is...

             … Read full post »

When I was teaching I used to accompany some middle schoolers to the UCONN branch in Groton, CT. There we would go out on a research boat and cast a drag net into the Thames River in New London. Once we hauled it in, the kids would examine their haul. In… Read full post »

Let me state upfront that I am an original Baby Boomer. I was born in 1947. I am an only child and the nephew of an aunt who is 95 and never married. My parents are still alive as well. My mother is 89 and her mind and body are failing.… Read full post »

Like the rest of us, I have been following the terrible killing of Trayvon Martin last month by George Zimmerman. Let me state right here, right now, that I do not support either Mr. Zimmerman nor Trayvon. But this just has to be said.

Having been a former history teacher,… Read full post »

I was siting at an outdoor cafe in California when I noticed a spiderweb that was attached to the ballisters of a railing. It looked like a kite made from a spiderweb. It doesn't look like much in the thumbnail but the opened image is pretty cool.

 If you want to… Read full post »

Bermuda is shaped like an inverted safety pin that s open. One of its most beautiful areas is St. Georges. Here the roads are narrow, the beaches incredible, the sand is cool, and the buildings are painted like colors of sherbet. 

When you get to the wharf you find lovely shops… Read full post »

A few years ago we took a windjammer out of Camden, Maine. It is a beautiful place with a beautiful harbor and beautful windjammers. On the morning of our departure, I came on deck and looked out over the rail. Our windjammer, the Angelique, was reflected in the early morning mirror… Read full post »

New Orleans is a unique city, filled with incredibly talented people. I am constantly amazed by the brilliant, yet often no more than local people that you find there. They coukd be major artistic successes anywhere else i n the country but they do not leave. There souls are part of… Read full post »

Recently my family was in New Orleans. One night we were in a fancy restuarant in the French Quarter when four very distinguished looking black gentlmen entered the facility. They were all  dressed in matching suits. I turned to my wife and said, "Look at those guys. I've seen them before.… Read full post »

   Just south of South St. Petersberg, Florida is a small island called Tierra Verde. It was once owned by the Big Bandleader Guy Lombardo who used it as a party getaway.  In the 30's and 40s you had to get there by boat but now there is a spiffy drawbridge… Read full post »