Your exchange with birders puts me in mind of another Anglican idea.
You've shown us it's OK, even bonding, to find humor in good works and workers. Chuckling with and at ourselves helps us live one my Rector's aphorisms; "belonging precedes believing". Laughter is another fine path to heaven!
A couple of weeks ago I saw someone on here chastising you for talking too much about yourself and your experience with aging and isolation. Well if you're confined to a small apartment while aging, then that is the experience you can write about. Many of us are experiencing similar issues of getting old and some of those issues are indeed challenging. Someone once said, "Getting old is not for the faint-hearted..."
Meanwhile, all those dear folk in Lake Wobegon whom we used to know so well but haven't heard of for a long time, are also aging and facing similar issues. We know that you aren't living there now, but any chance that you could visit there, in your imagination of course, and let us know how they're aging?? I'm sure that the women are still strong, the men maybe aren't quite as good looking as used to be, and the children.... well they aren't children any longer....
After all this time there must be a lot of News from Lake Wogegon that we'd like to catch up on. Please let your imagination drift there and tell us how they're fairing.
John, I've written a couple of novels about those people, LAKE WOBEGON VIRUS which came out last summer (and comes out in paperback this fall) and BOOM YEAR, which will be published this fall. I hope to include some chapters on SubStack. I hope there will be a third novel but haven't launched into it yet.
Many years ago I found a book titled, "The PC Is Not a Typewriter: A Style Manual for Creating Professional-Level Type on Your Personal Computer". As my father was a typesetter, it piqued my curiosity into the workings of the early versions of Microsoft Word I was using. I know it influenced my use of a single space between sentences.
Huh... I love to watch birds (and photograph, draw, and paint them) and I thought your column about bird watchers was a riot. I sent it on to my son, who has photographed a lot of birds for the National Audubon Society, and I'm sure he hooted, too.
Your latest book is by far the best. I was introduced to PHC by my friend, John (Klop), who would have made a great character-we were scout leaders in Toledo, Ohio. He would rig an antenna, connect to his radio kit and we would sit around a campfire to hear the program. The young scouts would pretend not to be interested, but by mid program, everyone would be glued. I've been hooked ever since...Jim C.
In the long ago days of cassette tapes, as a devoted listener of PHC, I recorded over a dozen programs for later listening. I drive an old car, vintage 1999, which sports a cassette player. The tapes of your shows dating from 2001 travel with me. I use them as company, but have discovered they have the added benefit of stopping me from allowing road rage to sweep over me. Garrison's dulcet tones keeps me safely in line. PW
Thomas Hardy is one of my favorite authors, too. My favorite book of his was "Far from the Madding Crowd." I can still vividly remember the part when Bathsheba's sheep are afflicted with bloat, and the frenetic attempt to save them. This probably makes no sense to you right now, but I don't want to spoil it for you by giving away too much of the plot. I enjoy reading your Writer's Almanac, and have tried out many of the books that you've discussed there. Thank you for the new reading ideas!
I enjoyed the recommendation for the BVM. Here's a related comment: http://www.michaelbroschat.com/note/presenterspreface.html
Dear GK-
Your exchange with birders puts me in mind of another Anglican idea.
You've shown us it's OK, even bonding, to find humor in good works and workers. Chuckling with and at ourselves helps us live one my Rector's aphorisms; "belonging precedes believing". Laughter is another fine path to heaven!
Cheers, Bill
A couple of weeks ago I saw someone on here chastising you for talking too much about yourself and your experience with aging and isolation. Well if you're confined to a small apartment while aging, then that is the experience you can write about. Many of us are experiencing similar issues of getting old and some of those issues are indeed challenging. Someone once said, "Getting old is not for the faint-hearted..."
Meanwhile, all those dear folk in Lake Wobegon whom we used to know so well but haven't heard of for a long time, are also aging and facing similar issues. We know that you aren't living there now, but any chance that you could visit there, in your imagination of course, and let us know how they're aging?? I'm sure that the women are still strong, the men maybe aren't quite as good looking as used to be, and the children.... well they aren't children any longer....
After all this time there must be a lot of News from Lake Wogegon that we'd like to catch up on. Please let your imagination drift there and tell us how they're fairing.
John Gilpin
Australia
John, I've written a couple of novels about those people, LAKE WOBEGON VIRUS which came out last summer (and comes out in paperback this fall) and BOOM YEAR, which will be published this fall. I hope to include some chapters on SubStack. I hope there will be a third novel but haven't launched into it yet.
Many years ago I found a book titled, "The PC Is Not a Typewriter: A Style Manual for Creating Professional-Level Type on Your Personal Computer". As my father was a typesetter, it piqued my curiosity into the workings of the early versions of Microsoft Word I was using. I know it influenced my use of a single space between sentences.
Huh... I love to watch birds (and photograph, draw, and paint them) and I thought your column about bird watchers was a riot. I sent it on to my son, who has photographed a lot of birds for the National Audubon Society, and I'm sure he hooted, too.
Dear GK,
Your latest book is by far the best. I was introduced to PHC by my friend, John (Klop), who would have made a great character-we were scout leaders in Toledo, Ohio. He would rig an antenna, connect to his radio kit and we would sit around a campfire to hear the program. The young scouts would pretend not to be interested, but by mid program, everyone would be glued. I've been hooked ever since...Jim C.
In the long ago days of cassette tapes, as a devoted listener of PHC, I recorded over a dozen programs for later listening. I drive an old car, vintage 1999, which sports a cassette player. The tapes of your shows dating from 2001 travel with me. I use them as company, but have discovered they have the added benefit of stopping me from allowing road rage to sweep over me. Garrison's dulcet tones keeps me safely in line. PW
Thomas Hardy is one of my favorite authors, too. My favorite book of his was "Far from the Madding Crowd." I can still vividly remember the part when Bathsheba's sheep are afflicted with bloat, and the frenetic attempt to save them. This probably makes no sense to you right now, but I don't want to spoil it for you by giving away too much of the plot. I enjoy reading your Writer's Almanac, and have tried out many of the books that you've discussed there. Thank you for the new reading ideas!