I first entered a library when I was 6 or 7, a short myopic Yankee kid hungry for books. The Allenstown (N.H.) Public Library, then and now, is housed in a modest, one-story brick building with a fireplace at each end and large windows on either side of the front porch. In the summer, day lilies fill its front yard, blooming riotously as flowers do in cold climes. The library could easily pass for someone’s home, except for the identifying sign in front.
The library was built in 1934 during the New Deal by the Public Works Administration at a cost of $13,000, in the Colonial Revival style....
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The day broke cool with a heavy dew, the temperature at least 10 degrees lower than it had been during the dog days. The forecast temperatures would not break 90 degrees. That passes for early autumn weather in East Texas, a period when summer can rudely return without notice. It was time to begin clearing fencerows and around Pancho’s Pond here at Three Geese Farm.
This is one of those projects that takes time to bubble to the top of the never empty to-do list. Mowing and bushhogging take precedent. The grass can get away from you if neglected. The whole dang place can turn back into the Pine...
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I have embarked on the latest long-form writing project, after doing research off and on since the COVID-19 pandemic confined us to our homes in 2020. Being housebound was the impetus, as well as discovering nearly all of the primary sources I needed to compile were now available online – something that was not the case when I first delved into this topic nearly 40 years ago.
As always, getting started is difficult. But it is necessary. I could continue to keep traveling down online rabbit holes, looking for more information. That is one way to put off the arduous work of actually organizing...
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09.01.2024 – The air is markedly cooler on this Sunday morning, the first day of September in a year that has flown by – as all years do at this season of my life. I wake up one morning and it is spring, roll over and it is summer, get up to fall knocking at the door, back in bed and it is winter.
At least, that is how it feels.
By cooler, I mean the temperature this morning was about 70 degrees as I headed out the door, a half dozen degrees below the lows recorded each morning during the dog days. The highs are still drifting into the 90s by mid-afternoon. Still, summer has been put on notice...
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