Books in Antique Stores vs. Books in Antiquarian Bookstores
I don’t know any serious book collector who could ever mistake the stock in an antique shop for that in an antiquarian bookstore. Based on having been in perhaps thousands of the former and hundreds of the latter, I know I never could. Hey, antique shops for the most part don’t even sell antiques these days, (much [...]
And now for something ENTIRELY different….
When last we met I was focused on the misanthropic fools I consistently stumble over out here in RV-world, and if you are one of said fools, I’m sorry, but you know what I mean because you simply must know how awful you are, right? Luckily, some of the coolest experiences I have had recently [...]
Bozos, Bozos….their noses twinkle in the Maine night….
People, mostly misanthropics like Bob T. but occasionally more normal people as well, have asked me, from time to time, to comment on the types of people we run into on the road, and for the most part I don’t, because I really don’t like that many people and the more I see of them [...]
Mall Rats
There are malls, and then there is THE Mall, where we spent today, at the National Archives and later at the Smithsonian…more accurately at one tiny, little, bitty almost insignificant part of the Smithsonian. And, since you, like Irene and I, are a seasoned traveler and have been here before, you know exactly what I’m [...]
The KOA as a Power of Darkness
KOA stands for, irritatingly, a perhaps intentially-mispelled Campgrounds of America, and apparently at one time was a force among RV Campgrounds, and still might be if you still habitually harbor the small, young, loud and unwashed, and by this I don’t mean you…you are certainly no longer young…but it does include your children, or at [...]
The End of All Days, or (at least) Some.
The end is coming. This of course has different meanings to differing folks. For instance, to me, right now, it means that, tomorrow at oh-dark-thirty, we head for North Carolina, leaving Alabama, passing right through Georgia, departing the South in favor of the almost-South or, better, of the mid-Atlantic region. Better because we are through [...]
Within this Cave, Everything….
The somewhat strange title of this piece has its origin, oddly, in an email sent to be long ago by Dr. Dennis, who, besides being a Ph.D. in something or other is also a Buddhist Monk, and it’s in that latter capacity that he wrote, saying that, in his tiny basement apartment sublet from someone [...]
Balance? I don’t need no stinkin’ balance! Do I?
Today I tried to answer two intriguing emails from friends. Both men are…after unplanned layoffs….working, although in Mitch’s case he is nearing retirement and in Raoul’s case he is not yet 30. I consider both guys good friends. Otherwise I suspect Mitch and Raoul don’t have much in common, except that they both admit to [...]
The Frog that Came To Stay
Do you remember Froggie, in Wind in the Willows? Adopting every fad that came by as the final answer to a question that he probably would never even ask himself? Discarding it just as quickly? Vroooom, vroom, racing around from bikes to boats to cars and back again. I get that frog, and I suppose [...]
Great Places for Life, Hate to Visit There
This summer we have been in a larger-than-normal number of pet hospitals, which begs the question, “Is there a normal number?”. Irene and I think that, if you have multiple animals, (we had four at the beginning of the summer), you will be in a veterinary hospital at least once a year. Keeping in mind [...]