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JUSTICE
The Rabbi always said thatthe highest form of justicewould be to teach a man to fish,rather than to donate fish to him. The Rabbi in question is nowlong dead, and in so many placesteaching a man to fish will onlyenable him to poison his family. We have laid waste to ouir worldassuming someone will clean…
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THE LADDER
We have anointed ourselvesthe highest of species, ableto assert our dominion over allwhich might be fortunate enoughto fall within our protection. Some say we have eliminatedspecies, but they fail to recognizethat it was simply survivalof the fittest, that Darwinianrules must govern nature’s game. We mourn those gone, but neverpause to consider that basedon the game’s…
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ALLIGATOR TEARS
Despite my admittedly limted effortsI still fail to understand whypeople here have fallen so in lovewith plastic shoes, and more so,why they are called Crocsand feature a crocodile on the package. I know one species of crocdoes inhabit this country, but almostexclusively in South Florida,where alligators are far more prevalent. And in any event, if…
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RAINY DAY
The rain came sideways today, or almost so. The cat decided that if she needed a bath, she’d give it to herself and opted to watch the storm through the sliding glass door to the lanai. When it ended, she ventured back out, checking out the various and sundry chairs, all hers she assumes, and…
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MARCHING TO OBLIVION
The most disturbing thingabout lemmings is notthat they follow one after anotherover a cliff or into traffic,it is not the carnagethat inevitably ensues,one after another doomedby the need to follow blindly. The disturbing thingis not the knowledge thatlemmings only follow,so someone directedthe first in line intoa suicidal act. The most disturbing thingis that lemmingsdo not…
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NESSLESS
There are no monstersin this lake I tellmy granddaughter, answeringher unasked question.There are bears in the woodsaround here and thereused to be an owl which madean afternoon visit.There are deer, certainlyand there could be a coyoteor two. If you don’tbelieve me, ask the crows,everyone knows that theycan never keep a secret. First published in From…
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PARKING
It is the difference I always noticebetween small and large cities: the parks. When you sit deeply withinBoston Commons or Central Parkyou can feel the city alwaysthreatening to encroach andonce again make you its prisoner,smell and hear the city, trafficand trucks rumbling, hornsplayed in a cacophonous symphony. In small cities you can sit in a…
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COSMOS
As a child he decided,after watching Cosmos,that he wanted to be an astronomer. He was six, we boughta large telescope and I was assignedthe job of aiming itaccording to his directions. After a while he didhave a mment of panic, wonderingwhat he would doduring the day. That soon passedwhen he discovered the radio telescopeand time…
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IF IT STICKS
It is the Italian season in the southeast. This has nothing to do with the country, its food or language. Well a bit to do with food. It is hurricane season here, and when a storm arises, you can be certain most of us begin to scan the web for information, for weather can quickly…
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MARS
Mars has risen in the western sky. Perhaps it is waiting for the moonto draw our attention,but the moon is periodicallyirascible, as tonight, and haschosen to abandon Marsto the stellar firmament. Mars has risen in the western sky. I wander into the dark in searchof the peace that onlynight affords, but the horizonis war and…
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an old writer and his words 