In 1883, Emma Lazarus, entered a contest that helped to fund the pedestal upon which the Statue of Liberty stands. She wrote the winning sonnet that was engraved in bronze and mounted inside that pedestal. The part of the sonnet that most Americans know well is the ending: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside…
What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a common question posed to youth. The earliest answers are things like, “A puppy!” or “A bird!” or dinosaur. Children get a little older and switch to “A firefighter!” or a race car driver, or baseball player. Eventually, as they learn about prestige and money, they say “I want to be a doctor!” or a lawyer or whatever their parents are, or whatever they are encouraged toward. In loftier…
Potential Spam. Unknown Caller. Unknown City and State I have no connection to. None of these calls are from anyone I want to talk with. Unfailingly, I block, ignore or send them straight to voicemail. And I am constantly in search of ways to stop such calls from ringing me in the first place. The interruption is annoying. How did my number get on these call lists? Is there a way to prevent it? I wish I knew. There’s a…
The final days of 2023. I am quarantined, because I was around a sick person at work a few days ago and they ended up testing positive for COVID. I’m not as afraid of getting COVID as I am about giving it, mostly to my ninety-four year old father. Although earlier this year I got it from him and my mother when they both had it and I at their house to take care of them. No hard feelings. It…
Resolutions. 2022. I’m feeling ambivalent about them. Resolutions 2021, I did okay. But that was a year ago. Then, I decided to reduce my carbon footprint by consuming less plastic and reducing the trees cut down on my behalf. I also resolved to start writing a blog, which I set it up in June, and now in these last few days of 2021 I’m about to publish my first post, I think. We’ll see. But back to plastic consumption –…