• In defense of ‘trash trees’

    Apparently, they do need defending. A couple of weeks ago, on the radio from Austin, a Texas tree specialist used that expression dismissively, as in cut ‘em down, get rid

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  • Aliens on a mission?

    It was one of the last nights of The Big Freeze, 16 January, 2018. Doing a new-normal walk-about to check for frozen pipes, WHAT WAS THAT? It couldn’t be! No

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  • A New York Kid’s Ethnic Christmas

    [This article first appeared in 2004 when my daughter and I had a website together. I hope that new desktodirt readers will enjoy it, and that long-time followers will appreciate

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  • Rabbit unmasked!

    FINALLY! An image of a rabbit in flight is captured. It’s very tough to get a decent one, even with a camera at the ready; you can’t predict when the

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  • George Washington, Henry Winkler and Me

    [A story from years ago that still has relevance today.] ***”I tell her ‘No,’ and add ‘men’s colognes and soaps are a real tough sell on me. They smell too

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Mom, I never knew!

Gingerly turning over newly-found old papers, photographs and assorted documents, surprise: Mom had artistic talent. The loosely bound faded green “Clippings” book that surfaced this past weekend gave that away. Mom saved the collection during WW II, when our mother was single and in her late teens to early twenties. But at the back of the volume, past the war

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The fix is in

I mean fix as in repair. Almost nothing is anymore, it’s simply thrown away. But, true to myself, I’ve dug in my heels and resolved to fix things that are broken. No more mindlessly adding them to the landfill. That’s not only to be considerate to the environment, but I miss the satisfaction of, “I DID IT,” with my own

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Drat, that dirt

It is called “gumbo”. No, it is not anything you can eat, at least not directly, not even with chicken and sausage. You grow things in it. Well……maybe. At a distance it looks black, closer it’s dark gray. [See the stuff at the top of this piece.] When it rains a lot, and you first-time-ever step into it – slurp

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In the beginning: Desk to Dirt

Every working day for almost forty years I accounted for every hour of work. I had to repeat that sentence to myself to comprehend it. Time cards, whether paper or electronic, had to be filled out, and formally submitted. No card, no pay. Every single hour, sometimes down to the half-hour, had to be recorded. A short description of the

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Wanted: Frog Companion

Having unique powers of interspecies observation and communication I offer the following from and about my resident frog, Fuzzy. In addition to divining what he says he needs, I can attest to his being of sound fitness and mind. And being one of my best tenants, I can assure you that he is respectful and pays on time. So here

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