Fall 2018 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD STORIES BY AND FOR RIDERWOOD RESIDENTS

FRENCH CUISINE by Bob Cohen

Our last night in was intermittently until daybreak. By the time memorable. Together with our friends the sun was fully up, I had recovered Chippy and Marty, we dined in a three- enough to shower and dress for our star restaurant adjacent to the charming early afternoon flight home. Only then little hotel that we had checked into did I remember that I had not asked for earlier in the day. Dinner was superb: a souvenir menu to add to my collection. hors d’oeuvres, vichyssoise, a delightful I knew the next door restaurant would green salad arrayed with bits of vidalia not open until much later in the day. But onion, mandarin oranges, luscious black just maybe …… olives, pecans, a sprinkling of wonderful I was unsteady as I stepped out to cheese, and a liberal splash of olive oil the sun-bathed courtyard that bordered and balsamic vinegar for starters. Veal the restaurant. A thin, elderly man with Marsala with truffles and juicy cap pulled low over his tanned, wizened mushrooms followed. Chocolate mousse face was sweeping the entrance. After with a dash of Cointreau, petits fours, several false starts, I managed to convey and fresh fruit with a variety of cheese my wish to speak with the owner. The were for dessert. Vintage wines—red sweeper motioned me to wait inside and white—were the chef’s selection. while he went for the owner/chef. A few My head was spinning when we moments later, they emerged from a got back to our room. Two weeks of room in the rear. The owner was wonderful French cuisine were frowning as he greeted me. “American” insufficient preparation for the lavish must have been written on my shirt or feast and abundant wine I had just announced by my ill pronounced consumed. I plunged into bed and was greeting in the few French words I had immediately asleep. Several hours later I learned after two years of high school woke up. My head was pounding, I was and college study. His perfect English violently nauseated, and vomited was tinged with just enough Gallic accent to prove that he was anContinued authentic on page French 3 chef. I praised his superb culinary art, the wonderful dining experience we’d had 1 and so forth. He smiled broadly. I told him I was a collector of menus from fine TALES FROM RIDERWOOD

Tales from Riderwood is Table of Contents published periodically by the Writers Guild, Riderwood French Cuisine by Bob Cohen ...... 1 Village, Inc., Silver Spring, MD Hospitality by Sally Porter ...... 4 20904. All materials appearing A Ride Interrupted by Irving Slott ...... 6 herein are considered Mixed Emotions by Charles Black ...... 8 copyrighted by the authors and Dreaming of Summer by Paula Cook ...... 8 may be published only by their Lifelong Training by Al Morey ...... 9 permission Lampposts by Kate Lorber ...... 10 Only Child by Donelle FitzGerald ...... 11 Editor Emeritus A Gedankenexperiment on Albert Einstein ...... 12 Martha Robinson by Soma Kumar Autumn by Colby Rodowsky ...... 13 Editor Getting Around by Don Lowe ...... 13 Ed Vilade Tales are sought for future issues: A Matter of Hygiene by Lo I Yin ...... 14  Memoirs Station Center Square Commons by B. Merikangas15 Production from your life The Mystery of Riderwood Chapel by D. Ebert ..... 16  Resident Rita Hofbauer Life on the Ridge by the Bay by John Fountain ...... 16 Jane Myers interviews/biographical sketches Camping Out by Patrick Curtis ...... 18  Riderwoo d events/human interest items A WWII VIP Encounter by John R. Lastova Jr...... 19 Communications  Short A Recycling Project by Leroy Gardner ...... 20 Janet Lopes original poems Pan Am’s 1970 World Fair Exhibit by A Prahinski .. 21  Fiction A Throw Away Poem by Mae Scanlon ...... 23 To view the Color Edition of should be identified as fiction. The Shore by Ed Vilade ...... 24 Please follow these instructions: TALES FROM RIDERWOOD And the Winner Is… by Mae Scanlon ...... 25 Go to www.riderwoodlife.org.  Limit one Destiny by Don Lowe ...... 26 tale per author Click on “Riderwood Activities” A Cheap Date by Dave Perlman ...... 26 Click on “Clubs”  Humor, Click on “Writers Guild” photos and sketches are encouraged Home Remedies by John Fountain ...... 27 Click on “Tales from  Keep tale Moving Out by Sally Porter ...... 27 Riderwood” relatively brief (750 words max for prose; 200 words Musings of an Old Fogey by Lo I Yin ...... 28 Scroll and read . . . Print whole max for poetry). To check the word count with your document . . . Print selected pages word processor, click Tools, then Word Count. The www.riderwoodlife.org  Email tale Tales such as the following are sought for future website that hosts Tales is a (preferably as Microsoft Word file) to Ion Deaton issues: memoirs, biographical sketches, human project of the Riderwood Com- [email protected] (301-572-4503) interest items, original poems. Fiction should be puter Club and website Project The Editorial Board reserves the right to accept, edit so identified. Manager Trudy Downs, a resident or reject all submissions. For instructions regarding entries please Contact and an instructor of computer

Ed Vilade KC419, courses for Prince George’s 301-273-2396 [email protected]. Community College. The Writers Guild appreciates this service.

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TALES FROM RIDERWOOD to prove that he was an authentic French the glass with my free hand and muttered chef. I praised his superb culinary art, the something about it being too early in the wonderful dining experience we’d had and day for a second drink despite how so forth. He smiled broadly. I told him I excellent the first was. I thanked him was a collector of menus from fine profusely for being so gracious, accepted restaurants and had neglected to ask him the menu with more words of for one before we left. He was delighted appreciation (yes, I overdid it), placed my to oblige me. But first a drink. empty glass on the bar well out of his Before I could refuse, he filled two reach and retreated to the bright sunshine glasses with fine champagne. He raised his and safety of our hotel. in salutation and took a generous sip. I did likewise but merely touched my lips to the glass. After we had chatted a bit longer, he excused himself to go upstairs to get one of the special menus. I rose at the same time saying it was such a beautiful morning that I would like to step outside for a moment. The sweeper was at the far end of the walkway, his back turned to me. The entrance was flanked by two large Grecian urns with something broad and leafy sprouting from each. I paused briefly. I was sure the champagne Several hours later we were high was expensive - intended for human over the Atlantic. My head had cleared consumption not plant fertilizer. But there and I was ready for a few saltines with hot was no alternative. I dumped my full glass tea, perhaps even a couple of rolls with of vintage champagne—good to the last jam. I thought of the eager chef and drop—in the vase with the most foliage. I chilled champagne. The bottle, still mostly reasoned that if alcohol was injurious to full, was resting in its ice bucket when I leafy green things, the sturdier plant left the restaurant. Did chef knock off the would have a better chance of survival. rest? Did the sweeper get a glass or two? I was back in the cafe seconds later The sous-chef? (I was sure no more just as the chef came down the stairs. He would be wasted on the shrubbery.) But was pleased to see me standing relaxed at what of that lovely leafy green plant? Had the bar fingering my empty glass. “Ah, let I destroyed it? I was still worrying about me refill ….” he began to say as he the plant when I drifted off to a much- reached into the wine cooler. Panic! I cut welcomed sleep. We were approaching him off in mid sentence, quickly covered JFK airport when I finally woke up.

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HOSPITALITY

by Sally Porter

When I was nineteen, for the on time and were relatively comfortable summer and first semester of my junior and not too crowded. Sitting on the year in college, I had the opportunity to second bus, we discussed what we would study for six months in Italy. do to find a place to stay. We were twenty students under A small man in a wrinkled gray the guidance of a professor and his wife. suit was sitting in the seat behind us. We We had a wonderful time as we learned had hardly noticed him, until he turned to speak Italian, studied Italian art and around and gave us a small, shy smile. history, and lived in a world very different “Excuse”, he said in heavily from that from which he hailed. We accented English, “I have been listen to spent the first few weeks in Milan, and your talk. I think you need to find a hotel? then moved on to Perugia, where we Can I help?” lived in private homes and studied at the “Oh yes,” I blurted, always the University for Foreigners. After a break, rash one. “We need to find a place to stay we planned to spend the fall in Rome. tonight that isn’t too expensive.” But first, we had a week-long break. “You have no reservation?” - and What to do with it? after we shook our heads, he continued, With two friends, Allie and “It will be hard. The Olympic guests , I made plans to go to Greece. come from Rome to Greece, so city is We made reservations at the YWCA in crowded.” Athens and planned our itinerary. Then “If you can help, we would be most the day before we were to take off we grateful,” I said. realized we had made a major mistake. So when we got off the bus, our Somehow we had miscalculated the dates new friend, whose name we learned was of our vacation, and would be in Greece Mr. Graci, led us to a neighborhood that one day before our reservations at the Y had a number of small hotels. At each began! So what to do? We had our bus place would go in and inquire if there was tickets, our boat tickets… we decided to a room for us. And at each place, he was go ahead, and hoped that we would find told that they were sorry, but they had no lodgings somewhere for that first night. vacancies. The boat crossing was scenic and The sun faded gloriously from the calm. Our busses, both from Perugia to sky and it began to get dark. Ovieta and then, after our passage on the “I know this is not … correct?” Aegean Sea, from Pireus to Athens, came said Mr. Graci, nervously, “but I cannot

4 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD leave you in the street. I live alone. You the others. I took my toothbrush can have bed. I sleep on couch. Will you and headed for the bathroom. Our host come home with me?” was in his kitchenette, making coffee. Grace, Allie and I looked at one “You sleep okay?” he asked. another. What choice did we have? We “I slept very well…. how about had to trust this man, and assume he you, on the couch?” meant us no harm. “It was not bad,” he said. “Would “That would be very kind of you,” you like coffee? said Allie. And so we walked along the It turned out that before we had dim streets for another ten or fifteen wakened, he had gone out to buy sweet minutes, until Mr. Graci took out a key rolls, so he fed us breakfast along with and entered a shabby apartment building. strong, almost undrinkable coffee. Then, We followed him in the door and up as we picked up sweatshirts and suitcases, three floors. He took out another key he gave us directions to the center of and ushered us into his home. It was Athens, where he said we would find the small, as he had suggested. There was Y. one bedroom and in the main room there After we tripped down the steps, was a long, sagging couch. calling out our thanks, we walked toward “You see, it is not special,” said the center of Athens and without much Mr. Graci, “but is better than street.” He difficulty located the YWCA. We went walked over to a closet and removed two on to have a wonderful time in Greece, blankets from the top shelf. “Maybe two walking around the Acropolis, taking a sleep in bed, one on floor - on these?” dawn bus ride to Adelphi, and having We smiled and thanked him. I headed for wonderful inexpensive meals in small, the bathroom while the other girls went comfortable cafes. into the bedroom. When I joined them in I’ve never forgotten the warmth of the bedroom they were not settling in, that lonely man, offering help and then but restlessly moving from window to bed lodging to three strange American girls. and then back again. Ever since then, I have had a warm spot “Do you think this is okay?” asked for anyone who comes from Greece. Grace, anxiously. “I think so,” I said. “And I’m too tired to worry about it any more. I’ll take the floor; you ladies can have the bed.” I pulled off my sweatshirt, kicked off my shoes and lay down on the blankets. I could hear Grace and Allie talking quietly, but what they said was blurry as I swiftly went to sleep. The next morning, I was up before

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A RIDE, INTERRUPTED

by Irving Slott

At 10 am on the morning, of May before purchasing one for $1,100. Each 31, 2018, my 58 year old son, Bill, left for day at the advice of the association he Yorktown VA to join 24 other bike riders rose early and rode at least 30 miles, for exactly two months to ride the 3,800 sometimes to Patuxent and sometimes 50 miles to . The ride is miles to Rockville, down to the Potomac, organized by Bike the US for MS, an through the Mall and back, and once 65 organization which raises funds to support miles to Annapolis and back. He is now research to reduce and improve in best riding shape. His wife would join treatments for multiple sclerosis being him at the end of the ride after visiting carried out by selected hospitals. There her family in Kansas City. are a number of other rides, this being I looked forward to following him the second longest one. To participate, he by a mail report every day. On June 16 I was required to raise $3,800 for the fund received the following letter: and he managed to accumulate and provide over $7,000, of which a small part Dear Friends, Family, Supporters and Cheerleaders, was mine. Bill has lived in Kibbutz Ketura in Many of you have heard the news by the far south of Israel for many years. He now. A dog ran in front of my bike when we is a successful tour guide and for many were in or near Hodgenville, Kentucky and years also a dairy worker. His exercise is caused me to fly through the air and fall. My to ride his bike every morning to the top elbow was fractured and my ride has of the nearby small mountain, so he was ended. These words cannot describe my already in good shape for this ride. The disappointment. I am 58 years old and have riders follow a prescribed route each day never broken a bone. I am a bike rider and at their own pace and stop for the night have ridden maybe 30,000 miles without at a planned spot to raise tents and rest ever falling. I have invested years of planning till the next day. He gave me the planned in this project and now it all comes to a route and stops so that I could follow him screeching halt because of an unavoidable each day. To begin, each dipped his rear incident with a dog. wheel in the Atlantic and at the end of the ride, dips the front wheel in the Pacific. I console myself with the following Bill came to Riderwood on May 13 thoughts: and stayed with me, sleeping on a cot. He * I rode almost a thousand miles carefully checked bikes and bike shops * I raised $10,000 for MS.

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But it all changed again on July 10. The last day was a cornucopia of The doctor in said the elbow exciting peak moments. Two stand out. has improved greatly and if he wished, he Riding with Rich, my usual partner we were could ride his bike again wherever he joined by his daughter Alissa, who though she wished. Bill immediately flew to usually rode ahead with the younger Telluride, Colorado and on July 12 riders, wanted to share this day with her rejoined the riders. father. We struggled against fierce headwinds On August 1 Bill was shown on and unexpected hills, but as we came to one Facebook smiling and standing on water’s peak near Vallejo, Alissa shouted back to me edge in San Francisco holding his bike in "I see water!" I suddenly felt a surge of the air. He was wearing a special shirt excitement and sped up the hill against the showing “Bike the US for MS”. This was wind to get to her and there was the bay, his posting: spread out and blue like a big sign saying "You made it, Bill." The second moment was on the beach at Crissy Field, right next to the Golden Gate Bridge, dipping our tires in the surf, spraying each other with champagne laughing and hugging one another. As we were

celebrating, Hadas Tal (Alon and Robyn's daughter) came running up with a sign that said: "1 healed elbow, 2 wheels on fire, 3cheers for Bill!" It was wonderful to see her there and share the moment with someone who has been a part of my family since the day she was born.

We presented a check to an MS The last few days of the ride have research center and continued to celebrate been wonderful. We began our last stretch that evening and the next morning. Now I sit with the dramatic entrance into California, in Palo Alto relaxing with friends, looking our last state, and continued with the forward to a vacation with Miriam and Idan, spectacular ascent 5,000 feet up the Sierra and pondering the ups and downs of the past Nevada range, past snow and glacial lakes (in two months. one of which, Silver Lake, we swam). I raised $10,000, rode 2200 miles On our penultimate evening together, (about 500 of them with a broken elbow), one set of former riders showed up with a made some wonderful friends whom I may cooler full of beer and another couple came never see again but will never forget and with a feast for dinner sharing stories and challenged myself beyond anything I could advice from previous rides. have imagined.

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I also met many people with MS and MIXED EMOTIONS learned that they struggle with challenges by Charles Black every day that make the physical efforts of this ride seem like child's play. After twenty years of marriage, my On this ride I carried with me the wife and I decided to take a vacation that memory of my neighbor Jeff, who battled MS would take us out of the USA. This was with a sense of humor and a steady supply of an exciting idea for both of us since our cannabis until he finally succumbed in the only trips during those years were to spring. And in front of me I had Mirjam, our places such as Virginia and North iron woman from Holland, who rode with her Carolina. Looking through many husband Bart on a tandem, cycling an awe- brochures we selected Puerto Rico to inspiring route, suffering from a long list of our first out of the country experience. MS symptoms which she rarely mentioned. It The success and pleasure of this trip was a constant reminder that we need to be made us hunger for more. One of our grateful for every moment of good health, selected trips took us to Japan, which we good friends and beautiful vistas. had defeated in WWII. I felt like a One last time, let me thank you all for CONQUERING hero as we roamed the the love, the support, the enthusiasm, the country. Fast forward to another year kind words, the positive energy and the joyous when we took a trip to Vietnam, the USA partnership with which you have shared this wasn’t so lucky in this war, so during this experience. trip I felt like a “CONQUERED” hero! May you all have the wind at your These contrasting emotions were backs in every endeavor. real and seemed to lessen my enjoyment in Vietnam for I seemed to feel that the Love, passing indigenous people were feeling the Bill same way I felt while in Japan.

DREAMING OF SUMMER

by Paula Cook

I love the long days of summer —

the evenings when the sun is in no hurry to set

but lingers to watch its light play among the clouds

and paint them yellow and orange and red.

I love to watch the sun finally sink, pull the darkening cover across the sky,

and bring down the curtain on its performance of another long day of summer.

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At the end of I went on LIFELONG TRAINING leave to Baltimore and back to Chicago By Al Morey with the same results. Several sailors and I joined a train on the Southern Pacific Trains, anyone? This is about the Railroad for a 56-hour ride covering 2400 train trip I took on the illustrious miles at an average speed of 40 miles per Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad which hour. I resolved then to cure my insanity I rode From Forest Hill to Baltimore in by using air travel the next times. As an 1947 and return. Although formed with aside we did one test of our ship at flank many plans for expansion and linking with speed, which reached almost 34 knots, other railroads it only succeeded in about 40 miles an hour. running trains from York to Baltimore. A naval ship captured me and the The train began in the 1860's and typical speeds were 18 knots, about 20 after the 3 foot rail system went to the miles an hour, but I was being paid, fed 4'8 ½ inches based on Roman chariot and had a bunk so life went on. That is wheel bases and using the 3 foot rail base another story. with sharp turns and in my experience a After several years at sea in the rollicking ride, it met its near demise in Pacific, I was on a train ride from Sasebo, 1958. A small portion still runs as a Kyushu Island, Japan, en route to Tokyo tourist attraction in Pennsylvania around on Honshu Island, 600 miles in 7 /34 Muddy Forks. hours, average speed about 75 miles per When I joined the U S Navy in hour. Based on American trains and ship February 1948 the B&O train took me speed, what can I say? 800 miles to Chicago in 18 hours, average After service my travel was mainly speed 42 miles an hour with passenger, by foot, bicycle, moped, motorcycle, auto, flag, farm and whistle stops along the way. bus and occasionally air until I went to I caught another train to North Chicago Europe in 1989 after retiring from 24 where I met a blast of fresh air from Lake years of teaching in Bel Air and 7 years at Michigan and enjoyed chill for 3 months. Wachusett Regional High School in On leave it was back from Chicago Massachusetts. It was to be for 30 days to Baltimore at the same speed. The and my wife Joy was to accompany me. definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting a different outcome. After leave it was back to Chicago with the same results. I began Machinist Mate School and weekends found me on the train to and from Chicago and into Waukegan, Illinois, to find that Jack Benny, a famous or infamous comedian, was not in residence.

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Unfortunately she had another downturn there on my way back to the in her mood disorders and could not go. . Her term in hospital allowed me to go I took slow trains through the with the family's and doctor's blessing. French countryside which met the I arrived at Schipol Airport in American speeds and passed the Bridge at and began Eurail trips with Remagen where an important WWII my previously purchased pass and battle took place and a movie was made possession of a youth hostel pass. which I saw before I went. I guess I'd I went from the Netherlands where better go again. My wife's health had I landed to , Luxembourg, improved and she was allowed to return Liechtenstein, France, , to home care and her battles went on Switzerland and and back to the until final relief arrived in January 1998. Netherlands for the trip home, taking In November 2001 I traveled to over 500 pictures. From each country I Spain and . That's another story. I got memories. could regale you with more tales. May my The Netherlands canals are not training continue. only extensive but there are a number of ______ubiquitous small boats in narrow canals which do a flourishing business LAMPPOSTS transporting food goods and catching and selling fish. by Kate Lorber Belgium has waterways traversing the farm and city lands. Luxembourg The young girls were standing almost appears as if you could walk it in a about a lamppost—the light drifting down day. I was in Lille, France on the 200th caressing their Modigliani necks. They Anniversary of Bastille day as I reported were tender young stalks, willowy young before. As I sat on a bench near a water birches. They were ballerinas. fountain to change film, a wind shift I loved ballet and now in my last drenched my back but missed the camera. year of college, I was studying modern I dried off in a couple of hours. On to ballet, yearning to look, to be, one of Switzerland where I caught two trains to those selected few. get to the top of the Alp Jungfrouhoch Carnegie Hall was where they where birds met us for lunch. rehearsed and where I watched them— In Austria I searched for family how they moved, how they walked, and I records and found an August Riefel (my tried to imitate their very essence. For great-great-great-great-grandfather) years I walked with head held high, back document from 1797 which had been very straight and each step a studied heel borrowed. The family had moved to first, toes out, first position. Standing was Saarbrucken, Germany or France a second position. Black ballet soft depending on who claimed it and I visited slippers on black leotards covered by a

10 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD long black sweater clinched in by a three inch leather belt buckled with an abstract brass piece of Greenwich Village art was my preferred type of clothing. Irv and I were married and lived in an almost basement apartment furnished with my mother’s influence -- too strong. Happily the linoleum she chose (I wanted a shag rug) was the perfect stage for my ballerina dreams. So, when alone in that sweet hopeful tiny almost basement apartment, I would leap pose slide to do leap pose slide with Isadora and Martha I still love ballet and when I guiding me. remember, I stand very straight, walk a My favorite record was Slaughter little straighter, head held very high, on Tenth Ave. The music urged me into feeling the lamp-lights caressing me the slide and leaps and I became willowy lovingly. and enchanted, lit by lampposts.

ONLY CHILD by Donelle FitzGerald

A silent wonder holds you, only child, secured to ancient, massive mystery of relatives grown-up and sure. They smiled because your words seemed quaint. You long to be as children, wishing them more kind, less wild -- like books. Immune to loneliness you see your loss. How often are you reconciled in wistful thought: "There is no one like me."

You hold the gift of time to learn and muse. Discard false mental phantoms and then choose companions from the best reality to store your keen-from -searching memory. With love and wit and wisdom will be piled the vow to never have an only child.

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A GEDANKENEXPERIMENT ON ALBERT EINSTEIN

by Soma Kumar

especially the planets and stars in the universe behaved strangely relative to each other. These were enunciated in two theories of what has been called Relativity. They hold that the velocity of light in vacuum is the only invariable attribute. All others, like one’s weight, Albert Einstein speed or location depend upon what

surrounds us and their distances. If one Scientists who investigate the could travel at speeds exceeding that of nature of the physical world that envelops light one could leave the Earth, go round us or the forces that hold and move the the Universe and return an hour or the contents of the universe require costly past day. The concept of time changed and sophisticated equipment housed in completely. These views still hold for well-designed laboratories. Albert over a century, despite extensive and Einstein, undeniably the most widely stringent texts conducted to detect flaws known of such scientists belonged to a in them. Acceptance of these ideas small, and exceedingly small, group which elevated Albert Einstein from the position needed no such laboratory. of an obscure clerk in a Swiss We can conjure that he just sat at Government Patent office in 1905 to that his desk with paper and pencil or a of the world’s most famous scientist by blackboard and pondered over situations 1915.. Like the equation he derived, in which trains and other vehicles moved E=Mc2, Einstein’s face became one of the in different directions and at different most recognized one in the whole world. speeds and of the movement of objects in A layman can pose a serious the vehicle with respect to each other question: Is Einstein so well-known to the and of stationary objects, like trees and general public as a result of an buildings viewed from the moving vehicle. understanding of the scientific merits of Of particular interest was when the his work or because of the way such a velocity of the moving vehicle approached great thinker happened to look, the that of light, the fastest traveler in the unkempt hair, the luxuriant mustache and universe. From such “thought the kind quizzical eyes? His personality experiments”, gedankenexperiment, in characterized by an unbelievable modesty German, he concluded that all objects, certainly was an endearing factor. Were 12 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD those enough to account for his fame? A non-scientific gedankenexperiment suggests itself for a clue. Photographs of three other contemporary scientists of almost equal renown, all Nobel Prize AUTUMN awardees, are presented. Suppose you By Colby Rodowsky met all four at a party and had a chance to have a casual conversation with each and We saw it all a few weeks later attempted to recall the in your calico fur — encounter with each. Who are you likely the orange of pumpkins, to remember most vividly and want to acorns brown meet again? against black earth — and in your paws and chest and chin a foretaste of snows to come. We saw it all and named you Autumn.

Max Plank Neils Bohr E. Fermi

GETTING AROUND by Don Lowe

My new home is fine, with blessings sublime, a comfortable setting for me. Gifts without measure, it's really a treasure, the pros beat the cons heavily.

The autos abound without nearly a sound, wheelchairs are leading the game.

Causing speed for my feet that don't miss a beat, the vision for life's a new frame.

The drivers that sit taking care not to hit, always making the most of their day

As I weave in and out without even a shout, life in Riderwood is a new way.

Walking swift in hopeful bliss, I avoid a narrow miss, I seek to secure my poor feet.

But their kindness and care is without compare, so I believe that my lifestyle's complete.

The drivers are jolly and it really is folly to think that my body should swerve

But my movement's getting better, exercising while reading my letter, building fully

every muscle, every nerve.

Diversity here is never more clear, I am awed by my newfound content

And I know that my mood is increasingly good, Now I'm looking for a wheelchair to

rent.

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A MATTER OF HYGIENE

by Lo I Yin

In 1949, when I was 19 days, the apartment was also years old, I came from China to permeated with the mouth- attend Carleton College in watering odor of curry. Northfield, Minnesota on a One day I was sent to buy scholarship. Carleton is a small some napkins. Upon entering the liberal-arts college with about a local supermarket I was thousand students at that time. overwhelmed and awed by the Fortunately, my English was sight of rows upon rows of isles sufficiently fluent to pass the filled with every variety of language exam required of merchandise. After enjoying a foreign students without much lengthy amount of wandering difficulty. around, I proudly found the aisle Winter vacation with the napkins. came a few months later. The But as I was walking college vacated all the dorms but toward the checkout was kind enough to house the counter, I happened to few male foreign students in a pass another aisle where sanitary local rooming house. napkins were on display. None of us had Confident of my linguistic much experience in house knowledge, I quickly exchanged keeping or cooking. As a result the two kinds of napkins. we came up with such exotic At the check out dishes as multi-storied rice, counter, the matronly lady where, because of impatience in looked at me, and the sanitary cooking, the rice at the bottom napkins, told me: “Son, you don’t of the pan was burned, but need these”! remained raw at the top. In a few

WRITERS’ GUILD

Meetings: 4th Mondays

Place: MST Classroom

Time: 3 to 4 pm

All Welcome

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Station, Center, Square, Commons By Bob Merikangas

When the people come to the village, they come to the Station; not to a railroad station, but to the bus station. They get off the bus, and walk into the village. They have come to share with each other, and soon come to the Square, one of the many public squares, where people walk around, sharing in the village life. The people sit together on some benches, resting for a while, then get up to go gather in the Center; not at a shopping center, but a center for sharing in events, either the conference center, or the interfaith center, or even together in the performing arts center. After the people finish gathering together in a center, then they are free they go out to roam around, to share together the village Commons. They all know the earth is their common home, so they feel they have gathered in the global village, and can observe the village commons: the land, the trees, the gardens, the fish in the water, the birds in the air. They are freed from any tragedy of the commons, and the people can enjoy together the habitat for humanity, in their village commons and the global commons.

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THE MYSTERY OF THE RIDERWOOD CHAPEL (CONTINUED)

by David Ebert

In the Spring 2018 issue of Tales direction of orientation for their places of from Riderwood, I asked the question as to worship. And many times now it is just a why the Chapel is exactly aligned in the practical matter of alignment for any given direction of the solstices. I asked for your situation. theories. Here is mine! So the question for the Riderwood In ancient times, the position of the architects was, of the many possible rising sun on the longest day of the year different alignments for the Chapel, which (summer solstice), and the position of the one to choose? But the objective was setting sun on the shortest day of the year clear: build a chapel where people of all (winter solstice), were very important. religious faiths would feel welcome. This The direction of these two events, which naturally would be the one aligned to the are naturally always 180 degrees apart but solstices! Will we find out if this theory is depend crucially on the latitude, developed correct in the next issue? a religious significance. Structures that ______were oriented in these directions were LIFE ON THE RIDGE BY THE BAY built, for example, Stonehenge in England. 1920s – 1930s As more modern religions evolved, Boyhood memories, sights and sounds of the alignment of these structures changed. times gone For example, the Temple of Zeus in Athens is aligned exactly in the East- West by John Fountain direction. This is another important time of year, the vernal and autumnal The waters of upper New York Bay, equinoxes. In Roman times, early from its’ narrow entrance to the tip of Christians as well as Jews faced toward Manhattan Island, wash against a ridge Jerusalem when praying. So naturally, the along the western shore of Long Island up churches and synagogues faced in that to the East River across from direction also, for example Hagia Sophia, Manhattan. A leafy neighborhood lies on in Istanbul (Constantinople in earlier the ridge nearest the narrows while an Christian times). On the other hand, the older, more densely built up area lies to Muslims pray facing Mecca so therefore the North near the mouth of the East the mosques face in that direction, for River. example the Blue Mosque also in Istanbul. My grandmother lived in one of a Other religions have their own preferred row of four-story brownstone houses lining a street sloping down to the water 16 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD five blocks below. A visit from our home The leafy neighborhood above the out to Long Island was an adventure to a Narrows was changing. These were the foreign land. The trip itself, by train and years of the Great Depression. I was streetcar, was a thrilling excursion. encouraged to ride my grandmother’s gift The avenue above my bike to exercise my polio-weakened legs grandmother’s block was lined with shops and allowed to roam alone down to the and an occasional pushcart selling fruit. In cinder path along the seawall at the base of summer, an open-sided streetcar the ridge. There was always something occasionally appeared. A running board interesting going on at the dock where a along each side provided access for riders ferry carried traffic across the Narrows for and footing for the conductor collecting Staten Island and points south. There was fares. If you looked small enough you no bridge or highway. rode free – a nickel was a nickel. All shipping, from transatlantic Transient scissors grinders and liners to busy tugs had to pass through this horse drawn junk wagons – cowbells narrow channel; an endlessly entertaining stretched above the driver’s seat – sight for me. A string of garbage scows provided welcome services. It was being towed to sea, escorted by a cloud of rumored that two ladies – down the block, white seagulls impressed me as strangely with backyard gardens, eagerly waited; beautiful. Summers, a converted dustpans at the ready, for anything a excursion boat was towed around the bay passing horse might pass in passing. giving slum children a day of fresh air, Up near the corner of her block was milk and a picnic. Men fishing for crabs a hole-in-the-wall tobacco shop, locally among the rods lining the seawall were called the candy store, that also sold apparently oblivious to the sight and odor newspapers, racing forms and pulp of raw sewage draining from a nearby magazines. A small group of hangers-on culvert. kept the owner company. Sent by a Streetcars went, buses came and visiting uncle for a pack of cigarettes, I subways rumbled beneath. The horse always came back with the wrong drawn milk wagon lingered on trailing the kind. The store smelled of stale cigarette milkman as he delivered paper capped smoke and newsprint. I never saw anyone glass bottles to customers’ steps. In buy candy from the fly-speckled case. winter, frozen cream popped off the paper In summer, hurdy gurdy music caps leaving a great treat for my announced the arrival of a miniature oatmeal. Rarely the horse slipped on the merry-go-round mounted on a truck ice and unable to rise, had to be thrilling kids with a short ride under the destroyed. A sad sight. watchful eyes of mothers on the Memories of childhood sights and curb. Every breeze wafting up from the sounds fade. To paraphrase a line from a bay carried sounds of the harbor and an Broadway play, Knickerbocker Holiday, occasional salty scent of the sea. they dwindle down to a precious few. These I share with you.

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CAMPING OUT by Patrick Curtis

1. The Last Breakfast

Something woke me this morning. I thought it was the tent against my cheek, But then I heard it in the trees and in the fire under the coffee pot. I slipped on the rocks yesterday and My boot scraping on the granite sounded like it too. The wet, brown leaves underfoot Left prints I could not follow. I saw a Jay and he saw me and he turned his head as if to ask, Why are you here? Finish your coffee. Let's take these thoughts and leave them in the woods Where all the trees turn yellow and red.

2. Portage

I turn the canoe over and The underside scrapes against the rocks. I lift and crown my head with a hawk's beak. It sways as I walk and I suffer like royalty

3. Rain in Blue Sky

Left the canoes at Bridge 10, Rode in the pickups, Backwards, facing the dust storm. Then in blue sky it rained, A sprinkle, a kiss on the cheek. We bumped along, Born again

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dad on the bridge to discuss their A WWII VIP ENCOUNTER mysterious trip. He informed dad that by John R. Lastova Jr. the visitor had been under a terrific strain for weeks, having just completed a long trip inspecting numerous Army outposts In the year 1940, when war clouds in foreign countries to check on their darkened Europe, our country finally state of military preparedness. stirred itself from its peacetime Though officially en route to complacency and began to realize that the Washington, D.C., he stayed on board years ahead would be more than a Graham for Rest and Relaxation (R&R). challenge to the nations of the world. The next morning, while a specially It was at this time that our nation arranged fishing party was trolling from began to realize that an immense defense the ship’s motor yawl off the Perlas program had to be created. Someone had Islands, Dad carefully studied our visitor. to be found in a short span of time who There was something about this man, the could create a modern army of millions of atmosphere about him made him feel men equipped and trained for modern instinctively that he was in the presence warfare. of a Great Person. Did this peace-loving nation have a While fishing, our “mystery” guest military genius big enough to succeed in relaxed and began to discuss various this tremendous task? problems. As dad listened with July 1940 found my father CWO amazement, his guest began a monologue John R. LASTOVA, US ARMY, in the from his crowded mind of problems, Panama Canal Zone as Master or Captain analyzing and reviewing them as he gave of the US Army mineplanter General voice to his thoughts. Dad was William Graham. One afternoon as the tremendously impressed by his ship returned from minelaying operations phenomenal memory for facts and the in Panama Bay on the Pacific side of the logic of his analyses coupled with the Canal, my dad received a confidential scope of affairs he touched upon. As dad message from the Commanding General sat there and listened, a feeling akin to at Quarry Heights, Canal Zone reverence came over him as dad realized Headquarters stating that a distinguished that he was listening to a mental giant. visitor was to be expected aboard his In the web of his magnetic spell, ship. Late that evening, the visitor arrived dad lost track of time and the purpose of quietly on board accompanied by General our trip was all but forgotten. Yes, Dad Dalton, the Canal Zone Health Officer. did remember that they had caught quite The Graham immediately cast off from few fish — Corbinas, Red Snappers, and the pier and got underway for the Bay of Bonitas. The V.I.P. hooked two 50-pound Panama. Corbinas. Not to -mention the 18 foot That night after the visitor had Shark that broke water off the yawl’s retired early, General Dalton came up to stern, ripping one fish off his hook. 19 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD

Fishing completed, they returned to the frugal by nature, I ruminated for a solution ship. short of trashing them. In the Suddenly, in a rare moment of evening of the same mental clarity, I envisioned making a day, the Graham quilt, using the old neckties. Encouraged returned to Balboa by having seen the quilt my daughter had on the Pacific Side made using the fronts and backs of T- of the Canal for our shirts she had collected during the days V.I.P.’s official when she was a competitive swimmer, I departure. As he decided that I should be able to do rendered somewhat the same thing, but using the appropriate honors ties in place of the T-shirt panels. to the Colors while leaving, those present Therefore, in the spring of 1994, I found themselves also saluting the man undertook the chore of making something our country found in its hour of need, a out of nothing: an almost impossible task, great Soldier and Statesman, General given my ability in the area of stitchery. George C. Marshall! First, I removed all linings and ironed the ______ties into clean, flat pieces of cloth. That was the easy part; time consuming, but A RECYCLING PROJECT easy. by Leroy W. Gardner The next step was not so easy: how to proceed? I experimented placing The necktie – who in the world the tie material in various arrangements, invented such a useless piece of clothing? but nothing looked acceptable. The only Moreover, what should be done with this solution I could think of was to cut the item of sartorial splendor when the time ties into pieces, sew the pieces into comes to discard it? squares and use them in some manner. For many years I received ties for Back to ruminating. I set up the birthdays, Christmas, and Father’s Day. sewing machine that my wife had brought Every day of my workaday life I wore ties. to our marriage. I would make nine inch I never discarded them. Rather, I retired squares, themselves made of smaller them to a final resting place in a plastic squares and rectangles. (I was not into bag in the back of the closet. Gone, and triangles and circles).This would allow me forgotten…almost. to use the colorful tie material to Faced with gathering used clothing advantage. for recycling, I retrieved the “tie bag” After much cutting and sewing, I from the closet. What could I do with assembled about 50 squares, using, in the them? The used-clothing agencies did not process, some 105 different ties. I want them. Was I to simply toss them attached 42 of the squares to an old out? Here and there the patterns were sheet, with space allowed between the rather handsome, after all… Somewhat squares. G Street Fabrics was my supplier 20 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD for the cloth that I decided upon, to fill the space between the rows and columns Pan Am’s 1970 of squares. I used a “low loft” filler for World Fair Exhibit the lining. Then I found another by Art Prahinski attractively patterned cloth for the back.

With a lot of measuring, pinning and sewing, the quilt was finally coming News events sometimes trigger together. memories of what, when, and where we The final step was to attach knots were when a related story occurred. This made of yarn over the entire surface of seems is to be even more true at the quilt, at about 9 or 12” intervals. It Riderwood. Recently a story of the was finished! Boeing 747 retiring after fifty years of As a final hurrah, I entered the quilt being America’s premier passenger in the 1996 Montgomery County Fair, airliner triggered such a recollection for hoping for recognition somewhat equal to me. Production and delivery delay of Pan the amount of work I had put into making Am’s first 747 let me become part of an it. I found the category in the catalog: “A earlier story in aviation history and let me quilt made by a male, without prior fly in Lindbergh’s airplane. experience, of an unusual design, on a In 1931 Charles Lindbergh and his sewing machine (as opposed to being new wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, flew a made by hand), and of a large size (it was Lockheed Sirius to China. They started by larger than queen-size)." flying north through Churchill, ; to I was pleased to Point Barrow, Alaska; crossed the Bearing receive a sixth-place Sea following the Pacific Rim down thru ribbon for my efforts. Osaka, Japan and then on into China. What more could I have Anne had made her solo flight in 1929 but asked for? Too heavy on this trip she operated and made the and large for my bed, it is currently on radio calls. After the trip was over she display on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 wrote a bestselling book, “North to the to 2, by appointment only. Expect to Orient”, named because the trip started wait….. by flying north. Two years latter Juan Trippe, Pan American’s founder and Lindberg’s friend, asked if they would use the Sirius again to explore potential commercial air routes of the Atlantic. On the first trip Anne had been the radio operator. Now she had been trained as a navigator by Harold Gatty who was then the world’s best known aerial navigator after he and Willy

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Post had circum navigated the world in Pan Am requested help from the Air eight days in 1931. Anne’s navigation log, Force and the 756th Military Airlift across the South Atlantic, was cited by Squadron, a reserve squadron at nearby Captain Philip Weems as an example of Andrews A.F.B. was authorized to airlift good navigation of the early 1930’s. After the Sirius to Osaka, Japan for the her trip Anne wrote another bestselling Smithsonian. This was my squadron and I book, “Listen, the Wind”. was assigned as the navigator for my In the late 1960’s Pan Am planed their annual two week active duty tour. exhibit for the 1970 World’s Fair in Our Squadron had the Douglas C-124 Osaka, Japan. They wanted Lindbergh’s Globemaster II’s, nicknamed "Old Shaky". Lockheed Sirius as their center piece of This was a heavy-lift cargo aircraft which the exhibit since he had flown the plane was about twenty years old, had four into Osaka in 1931 and had also used it propellers; it was slow and unpressurized. while doing scouting work for Pan Am. However the Sirius with its wings removed and crated had plenty of room in “Shaky”. It was a perfect trip. “EJ” Thomas, the Smithsonian’s curator who accompanied the Sirius, became part of our crew. He told us of the plane’s historic role. At refueling stops ground personnel came out just to see our cargo. Armed Forces Radio interviewed some of our crew. A picture of the Sirius being unloaded from Lindbergh’s “Tingmissartoq”, Shaky was on the front page of Osaka’s a Lockheed Sirius 8 in the Smithsonian’s newspaper. I was thrilled to be part of Pioneers of Flight Gallery this history. During the leg between Hawaii and Wake Island I wasn’t busy so I The Sirius was now part of the climbed up just to look inside. I wanted Smithsonian’s collection and so the to see the cockpit, the instruments, the Smithsonian with Pan Am planned the seating and chart space. I just wanted to restoration and the transport of it to see but I got carried away and had to sit Osaka. A significant part was to show off in Anne Lindbergh’s seat. In all it was and use their new Boeing 747, scheduled about ten minutes thinking of the for delivery in late 1969. The new747 aircraft’s role in aviation and her role as a was large enough to carry the Sirius as navigator. cargo. However Lockheed announced Years later, after my retirement production delays, Pan Am didn’t have from the reserves and my civilian job I was another plane large enough to haul the volunteer docent at the Smithsonian’s Sirius. Silver Hill Restoration Facility. There were some in the 756th Squadron who 22 TALES FROM RIDERWOOD remembered the Osaka trip carrying with the Director of the Air and Space Lindberg’s airplane but around the Museum. I mischievously pointed to the Smithsonian I was unique. I not only knew famous aircraft and said, “I flew in of the trip but at the holiday party for the Sirius between Honolulu and volunteers in the museum’s downtown Wake Island. I was at ten thousand Pioneers of Flight Gallery I was standing feet and Oh yeah! The cockpit next to Lindbergh’s Sirius having cocktails was open.”

A THROW AWAY POEM by Mae Scanlon

I beg you, pay heed to these words that I utter; Now --- not tomorrow --- get rid of your clutter. Don't be like me; you see, I have a penchant For saving old mags that might just have a trenchant Opinion or treatise that I might find awesome. Oh, for the spunk to just burn 'em or toss 'em. Cute-sy mementos of every vacation, Labels from every known sort of libation, Photos of people I've long since forgotten, Old LP records, now mildewed and rotten, Clothes that I wore when my body was svelter, “Things” to get 'round to, all strewn helter-skelter. Kiss them goodbye, I should; throw them away, Knowing that where there's a will there's a way. I have so damn many things that I've cherished, God help who copes with them after I've perished.

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THE SHORE Whoever was chosen had better not by Ed Vilade miss. It always took eons to arrive, Once a summer, when I was but eventually we did. Asbury Park was in a boy, we made a pilgrimage down to the those days at the height of its post-war New Jersey shore. The night before, we glory. Planks on the boardwalk were still had unscrewed the bottoms from our green -- years away from rot. The pink plastic piggy banks and disgorged carousel was old, but with a fresh coat of seven -- or if we were lucky, eight -- paint. The amusement arcade shiny and dollars in quarters, nickels and dimes onto new, jutting out over the ocean, but the our blankets to be counted and handed arcade games still dingy and funky. The over to mother for safekeeping. old flip-card peep shows worked, and That evening, we were when no one was watching, we put a uncommonly good, because the old man's nickel in to watch what we hoped would threat of cancellation always loomed. be the dirty ones. We tossed rings at Even my rotten little brother refrained pegs, threw baseballs at milk bottles, darts from teasing me into a wrestling match. at balloons and shot BBs at the moving Bathing suits, sandals, towels and beach line of big game animals, but never won balls were at the ready in the front hall. the big bear. But who cared? This, and our yearly visit to Olympic Park, We scorned the small and the amusement park in South Orange, mild-looking thrill rides -- that was what were the two big outings of the year. we did at Olympic Park -- and after hot On the appointed day, which dogs, soft ice cream and cotton candy for I recall as always being hot and sunny, we lunch, it was time to swim. rose early and scrambled into the old car. The public changing booths At first, it was a pre-war black Chevy with were always wet and grungy, and we got running boards. Later, a Ford of a in and out as fast as possible. For some particularly sepulchral gray. The usual reason, we always started with the cries of "shotgun" and "John pinched me" enormous saltwater pool, painted a were muted. He could still turn the car bilious green and full of cannon-balling around. urchins and huge-bellied dads hanging on The first years we made the to the sides, while moms watched warily trip down old Route 9, past clapboard from deck chairs. roadside stands and buildings always We endured about an hour slightly atilt and peeling. Later, we took of that, and then it was through the tunnel the brand new Garden State Parkway, a under the boardwalk and down to the concrete river still littered with beach. We spread our skimpy towels construction equipment. The big quickly and raced on down to the water. competition involved who would get to We never bothered making sand castles -- toss a quarter into the fare basket. we devoted our time to plunging into the breakers as many times as possible -- 24

TALES FROM RIDERWOOD splashing and chasing each other through Climate Change the vaguely greasy water. This for some (Possibly Controversial) reason was immensely tiring and we By John Fountain eventually staggered out on jelly legs to sit on the towel and dry off. Come little leaves All too soon it was time to Said the wind one day revisit the changing rooms, emerging with Come o’er the meadow clammy clothes and sandy feet. We made With me and play one last tour up and down the boardwalk Put on your garments of red and gold with our remaining quarters solid in our For the days grow short and the nights pockets -- spending it as fast as we could grow cold. on saltwater taffy, cotton candy and flimsy toys that would break on the way home. The way home was always somber. Drowsy, sunburned and grouchy, we pinched and poked at will, knowing the old man could no longer threaten to turn the car around. He white-knuckled up the highway as mom did her best to keep order and we planned in the gathering darkness what we would do next year.

AND THE WINNER IS....

by Mae Scanlon

Shall I compare thee to my books of old,

Yon Kindle, with thine electronic face?

My books have pages I can turn, and fold,

And bookish scent that Kindles can't replace, Whilst thou, O graphite e-book, seem so sterile, Albeit thou holds vast stores within th y frame. I choose thee over paper at my peril;

Still, I admit thou art the Modern Game.

Thy buttons, tabs, and flashings quite confound me; Too much to learn; too technical; too cold. Why opt I thee, when stirring tomes surround me? Be off with thee! For thee I'm much too old. The needs of Youth, thee, Kindle, may fulfill,

But leave me with my bookmarks and my quill.

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and textbooks for veterans, plus $60 a month for living expenses. DESTINY Sixty dollars a month was a tight By Don Lowe squeeze, even at 1947 prices, but careful budgeting and an occasional part-time job How is it for strangers that meet Mostly by chance, uniquely offeredmade it last. Still, college isn’t all about studying for tests. Not then. Not now. And discovering a place that enriches Our sought-for needs of mind and Theheart one big change since I had been a day session student was that there were Finding renewal in all parts of who we are Allowing destiny to mold ournow present women path in nearly every class. In my freshman year, there had been only six Evolving in ways that surprise, enjoy, create Always trusting the empoweredfemale gift students, of sharing all engineering majors. Hunter, New York’s public college for Life's adventure without controlling its direction Opening new doors, closingwomen, old ones didn’t have engineering courses. In what proved to be a first step Responding to the inner self choosing the unknown No longer making judgmentstowards that silence both colleges the soul becoming co-ed, CCNY now included a majority female Discovering joy taking us far beyond our old agenda Of being tied to our rationalEducation decisions, School. now Thus, on hold when my Geology class went on a field trip to study Living only with new questions that inspire our searching spirit Aware that the journey hasrock taken formations, the road I thathad shallthe pleasure transform of our dreams holding hands with an attractive girl Instilling within us more than we ever dreamed possible Only as we engage our destinynamed with Beverly. open -ended minds There weren’t that many field trips While leaping toward that unexpected gift of a new world That awaits us in spite ofso ourselves. the obvious next step was a Saturday night date. Yes, Beverly was willing. My ______

A Cheap Date friend Harvey and his girlfriend would be glad to join us. by Dave Perlman What was the best we could do with the modest amount we could afford? I had entered New York’s City Harvey and I were up to the challenge. College as a 16-year-old freshman in 1940 Our plan was for an evening that but the next year, after my mother lost would include a stage show, a moonlight her job, I had to work full time while boat ride and a late supper, all at a cost of taking some college courses at night. about $2 a couple. We did it. In 1947, I was among several After picking up our dates, our big million World War 2 veterans whose evening began by subway to the path to a college degree was made Davenport Free Theater. In 1947, New possible by the GI Bill. That was the York subways were still a nickel-a-ride. government program that paid for tuition

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The Depression-born free theater MOVING OUT was run by a flamboyant actor who would by Sally Porter always play the leading male role, backed up by a cast of would-be thespians’ In the Poem written as I was selling my house and pass-the- hat collection between acts, a moving to Riderwood quarter was an appropriate donation for two people. So our expenditures thus far Close on thirty years ago, came to 35 cents a couple. I’d left my mate, Next the subway took us to South our home, our life. Ferry, for what then and now is New Now, a year on, York’s best bargain. At the time, the ferry My erstwhile apartment would no longer ride to Staten Island was a modest five do. cents each way. Now, amazingly, it’s free. Scarce impact had I on that space: Still, even the most glamorous I still recall its cold, cold walls. evening must come to an end. The four of Behind, I’d left both insulation us shared a large $1 pizza, accompanied And my dog, not there allowed. by 10-cents-a-mug draft beer. Since we Now canine-less for many years, had lingered at the table, we left a To my need for her I can’t relate, generous 50-cent tip before splitting up to But then it drove me to hunting houses. take our dates home. As I said, theater, moonlight cruise This was in February, and supper. Worth a hearty goodnight A cold and ugly time. kiss. One place after another, I looked upon. ______Too big, too small, absolutely nothing right. Home Remedies And then I stumbled into Home. By John Fountain For that it was, right from the first.

(Kitchen Meds) I’ve lived here now

For all this while. Apple sauce, bananas and cottage cheese The neighbors changed: Will build your bones Old folks moved out, young folks And help that sneeze But if, by chance, you hear a wheeze Moved in, and soon begat Quit messing around A new generation of carefree youth. And see a Dr.

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Now some of those are may not only rise and fall, but also spin finished college, starting families of their around at their pleasure. Shelves have own, grown taller and difficult to reach; While others, younger, bike and call, screwed-on objects have become Singing to me their sweet hellos. obstinate and refuse to be unscrewed. The second sleeve of shirts and coats It’s hard to leave. loves to play hide-and-seek while I am This house is me, dressing; shoes and socks have grown My stye and taste. distant and not easily approachable. The first floor where I live, Other inanimate objects have also And space for family up and down. acquired individuality and become naughty I’ve filled the bookshelves, and uncontrollable. For no reason, things and the walls, will fly off from my grasp for a crash Sat for hours at this desk, landing. Food and soup may leap out of Cooked meals and cookies their plates and bowls to feed my shirt Time past time. and lap. The stairs are now my most feared hoodlums. They are arrogant and But now I’m old. eager to show off their muscles. I am Yes, that’s what time says. obliged to avoid them whenever possible. I don’t feel so. After my hearing loss, I have Libido, zest, and hope become an unwitting rhymer, but Live in me still. regrettably, not a poet. Through me, an “artist” friend discovered her hidden But it’s time to seek out others, musical talent as a “harpist”. “Cemetery” To give up this solitary time. became “seminary”; and “grass” morphed So let it happen soon, into “glass” by magic. Sadly, this sort of without regret. rhyming often frustrates the speakers and ______is not always tolerated with an indulgent chuckle. MUSINGS OF AN OLD FOGEY Having described this new by Lo I Yin fogeydom with its magical and unnerving powers, I must say that I still enjoy living Let’s be clear. I am an old fogey. in it. What surprised me as I entered Do I have any choice? fogeyhood is how the world has changed around me. Let me clarify: ______First of all, the physical world has become less rigid, but more pliable. Walls Thank you for taking may approach and recede at will; floors the time to enjoy Tales from Riderwood

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