Octogenarian Abroad Alone
At age 87 with labored breathing from open-heart surgery 4 years earlier, I decided to risk traveling alone from Santa Fe's 7,000 foot elevation to sea level at Sorrento, Italy. Took with me an iPad,...
View ArticlePhoto Op Papal Blessing
Much water under the bridge since 13 August 1969. But on that day, our youngest daughter Daria, when two months old, received a personal papal blessing from Pope Paul VI at a general audience, Castel...
View ArticleAndrea's a boy's name.
A fourth-generation Italian-American, my ancestral heritage was lost in both first-name and surname. The surname was changed in order for my father to secure employment during the Great Depression when...
View ArticleA Plague on Both Your Houses
As a lifelong independent conscientous voter, I am beseiged by partisanship of both Democrats and Republicans opposing my cautious deliberations on choice of presidentikal candidate.
View ArticleMy War, Remembering
Brief homage to some of the men in my outfit, World War II, European Theater.
View ArticleSt Francis and the Prairie Dog
Bronze statue fronting Santa Fe's City Hall spurs constant interaction with the public, tourists as well as citizens. My grand-daughter was visiting the city one day, happened upon this guitarist,...
View ArticleA Fifth Dissenter
Ideologically, I resent a health care bill in which refusal to honor the mandate was termed a penalty, not a tax, but passed in the Supreme Court, 5 to 4, when politically changed from penalty to tax....
View Article90 year old veteran reacts to end of Shutdown
The end of Shutdown does nothing to restore my respect or faith in Washington. I continue to feel that this is not the country I fought for, one I'll perhaps never again take excessive pride in, as I...
View ArticleParatrooper Bangs
I shared little in common with him except the love for his fiancée, who was my younger sister. And we were both at war in Europe, WWII. Harry Bangs was an entrepreneur, I an artist, and though few...
View ArticleMarie and John Paul II
I had hoped to be in St Peter's Square for the canonization to sainthood of Pope John Paul II. Advanced age with inevitable setbacks dictate No. However, was fortunate in years past to have attended...
View ArticleDrew and John Paul II
General papal audience St Peter's Square, Rome, 17 September 1986. Photo courtesy Fotografia Felici. Though hale and hearty at the time, I was in the special section for the sick as required caretaker...
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