our struggle
fiction
edward w pritchard
Recently I was walking along a glistening still blue lake and a quaint quiet road with two grand children not quite two and four, one trotting twenty feet in front of me and the young one a girl twenty feet behind me ambling aimlessly and blissfully engrossed in her thoughts. Naturally as the grand parent the thought flashed against my mind what would I do now if two or more wolves would appear as I have a weak heart, am no longer first to the hunt and was not carrying my precious hand carved walking stick.
Early the next morning in the AM predawn I awoke thinking about those children and home schooling and education in general and our struggle as parents in retrospect when we judge our past experience as parents and guardians of our precious off springs.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
I was heavier then
I was heavier then
fiction
edward w pritchard
Consider whence we came from and where we are going. Not in dust to dust ancient thinking but according to science metaphorically spun like in the big bang. At the ultimate beginning. Everything that ever would be as one micro molecule for one billionth of an instant, myself and us, as an intimate part of every possible future. I was heavier then, compacted but the entirety of all potentially flashed
across my newly created consciousness.
But now what next? Too many lights cloud my vision of the sky as the universe continues to race away from me. I have forgotten the original message.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Consider whence we came from and where we are going. Not in dust to dust ancient thinking but according to science metaphorically spun like in the big bang. At the ultimate beginning. Everything that ever would be as one micro molecule for one billionth of an instant, myself and us, as an intimate part of every possible future. I was heavier then, compacted but the entirety of all potentially flashed
across my newly created consciousness.
But now what next? Too many lights cloud my vision of the sky as the universe continues to race away from me. I have forgotten the original message.
sound travels silently
sound travels silently
fiction
edward w pritchard
Sound travels silently from the past to now but some pre-dawn mornings I can hear the same train whistle my Mother's grandmother heard as a girl from her bed room window in Wheeling, WV
back in the 1880.
It's cold and silent where my Mother's grand Mother is now but when she lived in Wheeling WV in the 1880's she always like me listened intently for distant train whistles up to a dozen miles from her home high up on the mountain where the family farm was. One morning she not only heard the train whistle but she distinctly heard voices from the passing train ten miles away. It was headed from Kansas City to Washington DC. From the conversation she over heard she surmised that Native American chiefs were going to Washington to sign treaties to exchange land for money.
Sound travels silently from the past to now but some pre-dawn mornings I can hear the same train whistle my Mother's grandmother heard as a girl from her bed room window in Wheeling, WV
back in the 1880's. Sometimes early in the morning I can hear the train whistle but unlike my Mother and her grand Mother I can never hear the voices.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Sound travels silently from the past to now but some pre-dawn mornings I can hear the same train whistle my Mother's grandmother heard as a girl from her bed room window in Wheeling, WV
back in the 1880.
It's cold and silent where my Mother's grand Mother is now but when she lived in Wheeling WV in the 1880's she always like me listened intently for distant train whistles up to a dozen miles from her home high up on the mountain where the family farm was. One morning she not only heard the train whistle but she distinctly heard voices from the passing train ten miles away. It was headed from Kansas City to Washington DC. From the conversation she over heard she surmised that Native American chiefs were going to Washington to sign treaties to exchange land for money.
Sound travels silently from the past to now but some pre-dawn mornings I can hear the same train whistle my Mother's grandmother heard as a girl from her bed room window in Wheeling, WV
back in the 1880's. Sometimes early in the morning I can hear the train whistle but unlike my Mother and her grand Mother I can never hear the voices.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
diminishing returns
diminishing returns
fiction
edward w pritchard
Remember Geoff and Steve the two professional meteor hunters who scoured the earth searching for rare and valuable meteors from space on the American TV show Meteor Men from 2009 to 2012? It occurred to me recently that perhaps the show concluded it's run on TV because the efforts the guys spent looking for Meteorites and the publicity their valuable finds generated caused diminishing returns on the number of valuable stones and minerals strung and scattered across the surface of the planet.
It's the same thing with Egyptian treasures buried by our ancestors, TV ghost hunters, dinosaur bones and people looking for lost pictures of Jessie James or Rommel's buried fortunes.
Every service anyone can need now has generated a startup company to walk your dog, deliver your groceries or have a guy on a bike bring you burger king whoopers and fries to your back door on a Tuesday night for a small extra fee.
How will the next generation make their fortunes and get a start in life?
fiction
edward w pritchard
Remember Geoff and Steve the two professional meteor hunters who scoured the earth searching for rare and valuable meteors from space on the American TV show Meteor Men from 2009 to 2012? It occurred to me recently that perhaps the show concluded it's run on TV because the efforts the guys spent looking for Meteorites and the publicity their valuable finds generated caused diminishing returns on the number of valuable stones and minerals strung and scattered across the surface of the planet.
It's the same thing with Egyptian treasures buried by our ancestors, TV ghost hunters, dinosaur bones and people looking for lost pictures of Jessie James or Rommel's buried fortunes.
Every service anyone can need now has generated a startup company to walk your dog, deliver your groceries or have a guy on a bike bring you burger king whoopers and fries to your back door on a Tuesday night for a small extra fee.
How will the next generation make their fortunes and get a start in life?
Saturday, July 27, 2019
another New Orleans musical great
another New Orleans Musical great
fiction
edward w pritchard
I mentioned that my son was in New Orleans tonight. So I wanted to mention to him another New Orleans musical great I admire besides Louie Armstrong.
Check out Sidney Bechet the clarinet player on" after your gone" or"Summertime". Not being a musician I am not sure why I like his playing but I certainly do.
fiction
edward w pritchard
I mentioned that my son was in New Orleans tonight. So I wanted to mention to him another New Orleans musical great I admire besides Louie Armstrong.
Check out Sidney Bechet the clarinet player on" after your gone" or"Summertime". Not being a musician I am not sure why I like his playing but I certainly do.
Friday, July 26, 2019
the ghosts have left
the ghosts have left
fiction
edward w pritchard
A now small deserted white building twenty five feet from the tracks once served as the railroad station at Glorieta NM on the Chicago to Los Angles line. Recently the empty station serves as the towns Post office rather than the railroad station as even the ghosts have left the station.
Glorieta NM. may be familiar to a History buff reading this. It was the scene of an important civil war battle. Confederate troops came close to a decisive victory but when their supply lines were captured and destroyed they were forced to retreat back into Colorado and later to Texas.
I hope to glance out of the train window from my seat on the Chicago to LA train and see the post office/ex train station in Glorieta NM as my cross county train rambles along the old Santa Fe trail to California. Hope is the word because I am in the first stages of planning a cross country trip by train. I love train travel. Look for me sitting on the second level of the third class coach across the aisle from the Amish family with six children.
fiction
edward w pritchard
A now small deserted white building twenty five feet from the tracks once served as the railroad station at Glorieta NM on the Chicago to Los Angles line. Recently the empty station serves as the towns Post office rather than the railroad station as even the ghosts have left the station.
Glorieta NM. may be familiar to a History buff reading this. It was the scene of an important civil war battle. Confederate troops came close to a decisive victory but when their supply lines were captured and destroyed they were forced to retreat back into Colorado and later to Texas.
I hope to glance out of the train window from my seat on the Chicago to LA train and see the post office/ex train station in Glorieta NM as my cross county train rambles along the old Santa Fe trail to California. Hope is the word because I am in the first stages of planning a cross country trip by train. I love train travel. Look for me sitting on the second level of the third class coach across the aisle from the Amish family with six children.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
how to concoct a strange piano mixture in New Orleans
how to concoct a strange piano mixture in New Orleans
fiction
edward w pritchard
Someone I care about is down in New Orleans this weekend promoting software for the Piano. I hope he gets a chance to listen to some authentic New Orleans music as well.
So many remarkable talented musicians from New Orleans are overlooked by the National music loving audiences in America. Often am I stunned by the work of various little known musicians who worked in New Orleans when I browse on you tube.
Tonight I was listening to Professor Longhair sing and play "Jambalaya" on you tube. I noticed something strange as I listened- not one dislike on you tube to Professors Longhairs rendition of Jambalaya. Now that's something that doesn't happen often on you tube.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Someone I care about is down in New Orleans this weekend promoting software for the Piano. I hope he gets a chance to listen to some authentic New Orleans music as well.
So many remarkable talented musicians from New Orleans are overlooked by the National music loving audiences in America. Often am I stunned by the work of various little known musicians who worked in New Orleans when I browse on you tube.
Tonight I was listening to Professor Longhair sing and play "Jambalaya" on you tube. I noticed something strange as I listened- not one dislike on you tube to Professors Longhairs rendition of Jambalaya. Now that's something that doesn't happen often on you tube.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
deep time on a planetary scale and a human scale
deep time on a planetary scale and a human scale
fiction
edward w pritchard
Down South of me near Peebles, Ohio there is an Indian Serpent Mound that I have always been interested in. Over the last twenty years scientists and archaeologists have been debating the age of the serpent Mound and which native American culture made the serpent mound by piling baskets of dirt into intricate formation. The latest estimates on the Serpent Mounds age is 1000 to 3,000 years old. A long time ago on the Human scale of time.
Recently the same scientists have established that the Indian serpent mounds near Peebles, Ohio were built and constructed on an ancient meteor crater nearly 300 million years old. A long time ago even on a planetary scale of Time's measurement.
Another series of burial mounds in Ohio are near a River behind a State prison also in southern Ohio. My children and I would once walk among those mounds while their Mother my then wife the lawyer saw inmates on long term confinement in the nearby prison for Murder. I remember one young man 18, who I knew from talking with on the phone arranging our visit to the correctional institute was serving up to 40 years [ I recall] with little chance of parole for a long time. That's a long time on human scale of Time for a teenager to endure for something he did impulsively in anger. One thing I distinctly remember about that prisoner who told me by phone about his incarceration was neither he, the shooter or his victim, then dead of course had clean hands concerning what had happened to put the shooter in prison.
This is the first time I have thought of that young man in close to thirty years. I assume though that he is still in prison somewhere in Ohio trying to get parole every so often. How much easier the justice might have been if he was sentenced to ten years hard labor piling baskets of dirt into the shape of snake mounds to honor his cultures gods or sacred ideals of retribution.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Down South of me near Peebles, Ohio there is an Indian Serpent Mound that I have always been interested in. Over the last twenty years scientists and archaeologists have been debating the age of the serpent Mound and which native American culture made the serpent mound by piling baskets of dirt into intricate formation. The latest estimates on the Serpent Mounds age is 1000 to 3,000 years old. A long time ago on the Human scale of time.
Recently the same scientists have established that the Indian serpent mounds near Peebles, Ohio were built and constructed on an ancient meteor crater nearly 300 million years old. A long time ago even on a planetary scale of Time's measurement.
Another series of burial mounds in Ohio are near a River behind a State prison also in southern Ohio. My children and I would once walk among those mounds while their Mother my then wife the lawyer saw inmates on long term confinement in the nearby prison for Murder. I remember one young man 18, who I knew from talking with on the phone arranging our visit to the correctional institute was serving up to 40 years [ I recall] with little chance of parole for a long time. That's a long time on human scale of Time for a teenager to endure for something he did impulsively in anger. One thing I distinctly remember about that prisoner who told me by phone about his incarceration was neither he, the shooter or his victim, then dead of course had clean hands concerning what had happened to put the shooter in prison.
This is the first time I have thought of that young man in close to thirty years. I assume though that he is still in prison somewhere in Ohio trying to get parole every so often. How much easier the justice might have been if he was sentenced to ten years hard labor piling baskets of dirt into the shape of snake mounds to honor his cultures gods or sacred ideals of retribution.
the slow ride Cleveland to LA
the slow ride Cleveland to LA
fiction
edward w pritchard
Restore the Dessert Wind train to California and I'll take a slow journey Cleveland to LA and transfer aboard the newly revived Dessert Wind train in Salt Lake City Utah for the last and most enjoyable part of my slow ride across our Country.
Economic issues aside I do so much more enjoy a train ride than a hurried airplane flight across the country.
With America's aging population of retired folks it seems like train travel would appeal to some of us capturing a part of our travel dollars.
Perhaps a Chinese company that is independent of the American auto industry could profitably run a few more cross America passenger trains.
Travel less enjoy the journey more.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Restore the Dessert Wind train to California and I'll take a slow journey Cleveland to LA and transfer aboard the newly revived Dessert Wind train in Salt Lake City Utah for the last and most enjoyable part of my slow ride across our Country.
Economic issues aside I do so much more enjoy a train ride than a hurried airplane flight across the country.
With America's aging population of retired folks it seems like train travel would appeal to some of us capturing a part of our travel dollars.
Perhaps a Chinese company that is independent of the American auto industry could profitably run a few more cross America passenger trains.
Travel less enjoy the journey more.
Monday, July 22, 2019
getting to know google better
getting to know google better
fiction
edward w pritchard
Goggle had sent me an electronic note after I had sent someone a confidential email that she would like to get to know me better so she could assist me better by understanding me at a more personal and intimate level.
I decided to play along. How shall I address you I queried? "Admirable my last Duchess" she intimated with a wink.
Now that I am old I have to admit it. I just never could understand google.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Goggle had sent me an electronic note after I had sent someone a confidential email that she would like to get to know me better so she could assist me better by understanding me at a more personal and intimate level.
I decided to play along. How shall I address you I queried? "Admirable my last Duchess" she intimated with a wink.
Now that I am old I have to admit it. I just never could understand google.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
stillness Sunday morning after the insipid heat
stillness Sunday morning after the insipid heat
fiction
edward w pritchard
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane an icon of a time long gone sings to me hauntingly " You are only pretty as you feel inside". The stillness is delightful early Sunday morning after the insipid heat and a brief interlude from the jangling air conditioners soon to erase all contemplation.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane an icon of a time long gone sings to me hauntingly " You are only pretty as you feel inside". The stillness is delightful early Sunday morning after the insipid heat and a brief interlude from the jangling air conditioners soon to erase all contemplation.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Red Buttons for President
Red Buttons for President
fiction
edward w pritchard
When immensely popular Republican President Donald Trump in 2020 decided not to seek a second term he decided to endorse as the best candidate for the job as his successor for American President the hologram of deceased actor Red Buttons.
Four years later when the Hologram Red Buttons was asked to run for a second term himself; Buttons tired of the constant criticism of his performance in the role as President said " I did not come here to be made sport of " and " I never got a dinner". Those lines always got Mr. President a laugh.
fiction
edward w pritchard
When immensely popular Republican President Donald Trump in 2020 decided not to seek a second term he decided to endorse as the best candidate for the job as his successor for American President the hologram of deceased actor Red Buttons.
Four years later when the Hologram Red Buttons was asked to run for a second term himself; Buttons tired of the constant criticism of his performance in the role as President said " I did not come here to be made sport of " and " I never got a dinner". Those lines always got Mr. President a laugh.
Friday, July 19, 2019
gossip about this brexit
gossip about this brexit
fiction
edward w pritchard
Many who did preach to burn down the mission now rush toward its walls hand pulling a small donkey cart loaded with their treasures and precious keepsakes fearful of invisible invaders disrupting their material world.
Elton set down the children and take to your piano-initiate a song to hold us together before the Empire formally dissolves. Or not.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Many who did preach to burn down the mission now rush toward its walls hand pulling a small donkey cart loaded with their treasures and precious keepsakes fearful of invisible invaders disrupting their material world.
Elton set down the children and take to your piano-initiate a song to hold us together before the Empire formally dissolves. Or not.
when it grows hot
when it grows hot
fiction
edward w pritchard
Just predawn when it grows hot through my open window I can feel more than hear the footfalls of the long dead Native American explorer wandering along the lake shore where I live looking for
a change of scenery in his life. Through long practice he makes little sound as he walks yet the birds hear him and talk to him begging reply. He knows but I forget is Venus in the predawn East or West sky this morning and will the new sunrise be red or not suggesting a storm brought on by the heat.
Just like that he is gone. Too much light exposes him. Out of habit the birds continue to give him a shout out in his honor and remembrance.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Just predawn when it grows hot through my open window I can feel more than hear the footfalls of the long dead Native American explorer wandering along the lake shore where I live looking for
a change of scenery in his life. Through long practice he makes little sound as he walks yet the birds hear him and talk to him begging reply. He knows but I forget is Venus in the predawn East or West sky this morning and will the new sunrise be red or not suggesting a storm brought on by the heat.
Just like that he is gone. Too much light exposes him. Out of habit the birds continue to give him a shout out in his honor and remembrance.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
always a stranger
always a stranger
fiction
edward w pritchard
These ceaseless rains dissolve the moorings that anchor the tree roots supporting the vegetation that hold our world together. Any gust of wind will blow away the entire society that cradles us all.
Hide underground as an Egyptian piling treasures and consumables for luxurious after lives. Smile at death as a Hindu curious about future transformations.
Always a stranger just passing through. Feel the vegetation creeping up the walls of the temples guarding up the certainties of before.
The rivers are at the flood about to inundate everyone in our Valley. Arise, arise, head for higher ground.
fiction
edward w pritchard
These ceaseless rains dissolve the moorings that anchor the tree roots supporting the vegetation that hold our world together. Any gust of wind will blow away the entire society that cradles us all.
Hide underground as an Egyptian piling treasures and consumables for luxurious after lives. Smile at death as a Hindu curious about future transformations.
Always a stranger just passing through. Feel the vegetation creeping up the walls of the temples guarding up the certainties of before.
The rivers are at the flood about to inundate everyone in our Valley. Arise, arise, head for higher ground.
Monday, July 15, 2019
travel always before
travel always before
fiction
edward w pritchard
Travel always before not now. Reflect in the warm reminiscences of memory of where you have been not the tedium of the place the train has dropped you and your grip at now.
And if you never went there? Not to worry. Istanbul and Cornish England like a lost lover of your youth is always waiting eager for your presence.
Start on your bike and ride in a circle around the world from Home, down the Appian way, following Alexander on his conquests into India and then cycle across China and through and across the vanished American West.
Just you and an imaginary wallet bulging with hundred dollar bills and one very cool looking valise seeing the World as reported by the long dead travel writers.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Travel always before not now. Reflect in the warm reminiscences of memory of where you have been not the tedium of the place the train has dropped you and your grip at now.
And if you never went there? Not to worry. Istanbul and Cornish England like a lost lover of your youth is always waiting eager for your presence.
Start on your bike and ride in a circle around the world from Home, down the Appian way, following Alexander on his conquests into India and then cycle across China and through and across the vanished American West.
Just you and an imaginary wallet bulging with hundred dollar bills and one very cool looking valise seeing the World as reported by the long dead travel writers.
going and gone yet persevere
going and gone yet persevere
fiction
edward w pritchard
If we were far from civilization on a very cold night stranded in the woods with two very small children to nurture and protect that chilly night the paramount skill for one to have would be to build a shelter from the wind and snow and a healthy fire to last the night.
Recently I had a medical test that was supposed to cost $150 that ended up being written off at an invisible cost to some one of 30,000 dollars plus. Still here am I and the test pretty much told what was already self apparent. Going and gone yet I persevere.
Once I played Bob Dylan protest songs but now I prefer Bob's "Forever Young" sung by his earlier friend
Joan Baez.
Bob said
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
I can build a decent warm shelter and fire on a very cold night in the woods; going and gone yet I persevere. Trying to stay forever young.
fiction
edward w pritchard
If we were far from civilization on a very cold night stranded in the woods with two very small children to nurture and protect that chilly night the paramount skill for one to have would be to build a shelter from the wind and snow and a healthy fire to last the night.
Recently I had a medical test that was supposed to cost $150 that ended up being written off at an invisible cost to some one of 30,000 dollars plus. Still here am I and the test pretty much told what was already self apparent. Going and gone yet I persevere.
Once I played Bob Dylan protest songs but now I prefer Bob's "Forever Young" sung by his earlier friend
Joan Baez.
Bob said
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
I can build a decent warm shelter and fire on a very cold night in the woods; going and gone yet I persevere. Trying to stay forever young.
simplify to get real
simplify to get real
fiction
edward w Pritchard
Woe is us in the midst of real life as wave after wave of the sea of troubles over whelms us. Do we head to Walden Pond alone to escape everyone and everything recreating the philosophy of a teenager toward the world? Or do we become a follower of the Buddhist regiment of nihilism?
As tin man alludes and intimates in Oz to have a heart for the suffering of other people is to suffer with them.
One trillion galaxies collide and race apart and through my open window at dawn the background noise of the cars and trucks racing away on the expressways lulls me back to my dreams.
fiction
edward w Pritchard
Woe is us in the midst of real life as wave after wave of the sea of troubles over whelms us. Do we head to Walden Pond alone to escape everyone and everything recreating the philosophy of a teenager toward the world? Or do we become a follower of the Buddhist regiment of nihilism?
As tin man alludes and intimates in Oz to have a heart for the suffering of other people is to suffer with them.
One trillion galaxies collide and race apart and through my open window at dawn the background noise of the cars and trucks racing away on the expressways lulls me back to my dreams.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
reversal of fortune
reversal of fortune
fiction
edward w pritchard
What catastrophic event or occurrence could happen in America to make every person lose their money, their position in society and their source of happiness and security? Like the Jews in 1930's
Germany what if the entire population of America suddenly lost the moorings that supported their confidence in their position in society.
Worse than the fear that one will develop the cursed disease of forgetfulness wandering around friendless in a fog or sudden death without burial for Americans is the catastrophic fear that they will lose their wealth and position in their world.
To be an outcast, such as a non believer at a month long religious festival who is the only one without the proper sacred uniform following the centuries old traditions, a prisoner in a cell removed permanently from society or a vagrant standing by the expressway smiling and waving at cars with a beggar's cup in hand is the ultimate curse for an American to endure in our affluent society.
fiction
edward w pritchard
What catastrophic event or occurrence could happen in America to make every person lose their money, their position in society and their source of happiness and security? Like the Jews in 1930's
Germany what if the entire population of America suddenly lost the moorings that supported their confidence in their position in society.
Worse than the fear that one will develop the cursed disease of forgetfulness wandering around friendless in a fog or sudden death without burial for Americans is the catastrophic fear that they will lose their wealth and position in their world.
To be an outcast, such as a non believer at a month long religious festival who is the only one without the proper sacred uniform following the centuries old traditions, a prisoner in a cell removed permanently from society or a vagrant standing by the expressway smiling and waving at cars with a beggar's cup in hand is the ultimate curse for an American to endure in our affluent society.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
ranking experiences
ranking experiences
fiction
edward w pritchard
Last night at 4 AM while sleeping looking out of a half open East facing window with a mile vista to the horizon I was awakened gradually by an increasing breeze precursor to a middle of the night growing in intensity rain storm. At such times one is so much alive and the next half hour becomes a long remembered memorable experience.
At times I have a distant racial memory of living outside, watching the planets, Moon and stars
and sleeping lightly while listening for noises in the nearby forest.
Such experiences are most enjoyable.
fiction
edward w pritchard
Last night at 4 AM while sleeping looking out of a half open East facing window with a mile vista to the horizon I was awakened gradually by an increasing breeze precursor to a middle of the night growing in intensity rain storm. At such times one is so much alive and the next half hour becomes a long remembered memorable experience.
At times I have a distant racial memory of living outside, watching the planets, Moon and stars
and sleeping lightly while listening for noises in the nearby forest.
Such experiences are most enjoyable.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
proud to be an american
proud to be an american
fiction
edward w pritchard
When I listen on you tube to the output of American musicians I can't help but be proud to be an American.
Today I gave my son, who like my Father always wanted to play the piano, a list I made up of IMO
the best Black piano players of the 20th century. Although I can't play piano I can appreciate someone who can.
When I hear the unique production of American musicians I can't help but be proud to be an American.
fiction
edward w pritchard
When I listen on you tube to the output of American musicians I can't help but be proud to be an American.
Today I gave my son, who like my Father always wanted to play the piano, a list I made up of IMO
the best Black piano players of the 20th century. Although I can't play piano I can appreciate someone who can.
When I hear the unique production of American musicians I can't help but be proud to be an American.
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