In elementary and high school, spring breaks were rare. In the mountains of Western North Carolina there were enough snow days to wipe out the vacation days. My junior year we missed 30 days for snow. Sometimes we had Good Friday and Easter Monday off. Easter Monday was a southern thing. I have no idea why it was considered a necessary day for school closing. There were no trips to the beach like the ones in Where the Boys Are and other teen movies.
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In elementary and high school, spring breaks were rare. In the mountains of Western North Carolina there were enough snow days to wipe out the vacation days. My junior year we missed 30 days for snow. Sometimes we had Good Friday and Easter Monday off. Easter Monday was a southern thing. I have no idea why it was considered a necessary day for school closing. There were no trips to the beach like the ones in Where the Boys Are and other teen movies.
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I was crying for what isn’t, for the work and feeling that has gone into the Christmas music for as long there has been Christmas music, and for the sad, mostly uselessness of it.
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This is Ophelia’s first song. It’s not the mad one where she hands out flowers and says that all will be well. I knew that nothing would be well.
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In the summer of 1981, I went to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to hear Peter, Paul, and Mary. They had broken up in 1970, gotten back together in 1978, and were touring together again the summer of ’81.
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One of my brightest sunburns happened on a beach in Scotland in June 1988. Simon and I left the Isle of Skye very early, took a ferry to Mallaig, and then a train to Arisaig on a lovely, sunny day.
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By Ginger Smith Bate Until Simon and I became parents, Father’s Day meant nothing to me. I bought my first Father’s Day card when my son was six months old. Since then we celebrate the day with a favorite meal, cards, and a couple of small gifts. I remind Julian the day before that he…
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From 1981 until 1987 I lived in a tiny house on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The Alexander Craig Kitchen was a reconstruction of a detached kitchen from the 18th Century. I was allowed to have a pet. Mine was a beautiful gray cat who came to me as a kitten…
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Retrospective Faith. Do I have any? I’m not a believer in an afterlife. I don’t believe in answered prayers. I don’t believe that there is a higher power looking out for my safety and general well-being. I wasn’t born for a reason or as part of a plan. I tried for maybe sixty percent of…
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Southern Spring Breaks
Prompted By Spring Break
/ Stories
In elementary and high school, spring breaks were rare. In the mountains of Western North Carolina there were enough snow days to wipe out the vacation days. My junior year we missed 30 days for snow. Sometimes we had Good Friday and Easter Monday off. Easter Monday was a southern thing. I have no idea why it was considered a necessary day for school closing. There were no trips to the beach like the ones in Where the Boys Are and other teen movies.
Read More
The Myths of Christmas Music
Prompted By Songs We Sang
/ Stories
I was crying for what isn’t, for the work and feeling that has gone into the Christmas music for as long there has been Christmas music, and for the sad, mostly uselessness of it.
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Songs I Sang
Prompted By Songs We Sang
/ Stories
This is Ophelia’s first song. It’s not the mad one where she hands out flowers and says that all will be well. I knew that nothing would be well.
Read More
I am crying for what isn't.
Too Much Wine With Peter, Paul, and Mary
/ Stories
In the summer of 1981, I went to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to hear Peter, Paul, and Mary. They had broken up in 1970, gotten back together in 1978, and were touring together again the summer of ’81.
Read More
Surprise Sunburns
/ Stories
One of my brightest sunburns happened on a beach in Scotland in June 1988. Simon and I left the Isle of Skye very early, took a ferry to Mallaig, and then a train to Arisaig on a lovely, sunny day.
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My Father, the Alligator Man
/ Stories
By Ginger Smith Bate Until Simon and I became parents, Father’s Day meant nothing to me. I bought my first Father’s Day card when my son was six months old. Since then we celebrate the day with a favorite meal, cards, and a couple of small gifts. I remind Julian the day before that he…
Read More
There’s a cat following us.
/ Stories
From 1981 until 1987 I lived in a tiny house on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The Alexander Craig Kitchen was a reconstruction of a detached kitchen from the 18th Century. I was allowed to have a pet. Mine was a beautiful gray cat who came to me as a kitten…
Read More
Searching on two paths
/ Stories
Retrospective Faith. Do I have any? I’m not a believer in an afterlife. I don’t believe in answered prayers. I don’t believe that there is a higher power looking out for my safety and general well-being. I wasn’t born for a reason or as part of a plan. I tried for maybe sixty percent of…
Read More
