Bespoke

Patriotism

  • Trains, Plains & Peanuts

    The remains of my Father-in-law were scattered to the four winds from atop Bowman’s Hill Tower on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. Thomas Mason’s children loved this family getaway place near the spot where George Washington crossed over… Continue reading

  • Restless Bones

    There’s an old saying spun different ways but the essence is, “If you aren’t an insurrectionist at eighteen, you have no heart. And if you aren’t a flag-waving patriot at thirty-five, you have no brain.”  This seems truer as time… Continue reading

  • RV two

    After two days of RV life, I’ve determined that this is not the life depicted in Downton Abbey and if Robert or Mary magically appeared and asked who will dress me today, well, I would tell them you are on… Continue reading

  • Judgement and Grace in a Rubber Stamp

    It’s difficult to comprehend all the political jousting about immigration policy. And even something as simple as people yearning to breathe free seems to be smothered in sound and fury. Sometimes it helps to hear a story from someone you… Continue reading

  • Barely Getting a Leaf Out

    My good friend Ralph Rowand once told me something in college that made me look at him with a tilted head like a dog that’s been given kale. “Our generation got cheated out of a war.” said Ralph bemusedly. Once my… Continue reading

  • A Choir of Donkeys and Angels

    Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.   ~  Victor Hugo I had a reputation as a youngster that enshrouded me like cigar smoke hovering over Churchill on a still summer evening. I… Continue reading

  • Abraham, Martin & Me

    Originally posted on Bespoke: It was the first time I ever prayed with my face touching the earth…and the first time I have ever had a prayer interrupted by a President of the United States. I lay prostrate on the… Continue reading

  • Humility in a Sea of Tranquility

    Neil Armstrong used to tell dry punchless jokes about the moon and then follow them up with, “Ahh…I guess you had to be there.” . Well, I was there…at least I felt deep down in my soul I was there… Continue reading

  • LBJ & Dad had No Idea What Fuse They Lit in 1965

    My favorite childhood holiday through the wonder years of the Sixties was the 4th of July. I had no precocious notions of patriotism, not one noble sentiment of love for country. I just loved fireworks. Sparklers (Please…don’t plunge them deep… Continue reading

  • Abraham, Martin & Me

    It was the first time I ever prayed with my face touching the earth…and the first time I have ever had a prayer interrupted by a President of the United States. I lay prostrate on the green grass surrounding the… Continue reading