celtic_writer

Bimmy

2011-08-23T12:14:00-04:00

Uncle John. There was a popular comic strip so way back when called "Bringing Up Father." Created by George McManus, it chronicled the life and times of a fellah named Jiggs, an Irish guy from the streets, whose life changed...

Where the Words Are Said

2011-04-05T18:54:03-04:00

The Celts believed that our heads, our minds, are part of our souls. And that stories connect. The journey stories, my favorites, told to me in childhood, felt nourishing, odd and brave. Brendan the Navigator went on pilgrimages to unknown...

The Words of Men

2011-02-15T22:30:49-05:00

When you visit Key West, there is a story you will hear. It is a place in Florida...at the southern-most point...before you reach Castro. If you are listening, you will be told that the writer, Ernest Hemingway, built a wall....

Walt, Jerry Lewis, and the Color of Leaves

2010-10-18T16:05:03-04:00

Walt. You were a Black Lab from Occoquan, VA, born of a young mother in a house high on a hill. You were six weeks old when first discovered, sound asleep in a pig pile of puppies, all fat, full...

Baton Dreams, The Bomb, and The Swan Lake Sergeant

2010-09-06T13:19:22-04:00

It's the end of summer here in New England. Acorns are falling, and drum majorettes are out and about. While motoring my bicycle along a country road the other morning, I passed a young baton-swingin' woman dressed in majorette costume,...

Remarkable Things

2010-03-21T22:30:46-04:00

A trip into nature taught me I could love something new. I was six years of age, on a carefully-planned, permission-slip-OK'd excursion to a local farm. Once off the bus, we were taken to a barn where there was a...

Seabiscuit Christmas -- Reprise

2009-12-23T20:39:53-05:00

NOTE: This post was originally published on 12/23/05. It is a popular one, so here it is again. And the theme and feeling have not changed. Merry Christmas, everyone. Hope it is a great one for you all. - Mary...

Montana Police Blotter

2009-09-29T19:18:34-04:00

When venturing along the road of life, a person cannot help but discover the philosophical undertones of the locations one visits. A good source for this kind of wisdom is always the local TV news. Have visited places where the...

54 Quotes

2009-07-16T20:06:39-04:00

At 3 p.m. today, I became 54. Years, that is. Swimming pools. Movie stars. For those of you who know me, you understand that I write in notebooks. Black Moleskin notesbooks. Every day. All year round. I find quotes, and...

Happy Bastille Day & the Drunk Good Humor Man

2009-07-14T22:52:21-04:00

My friend Penny left a comment on Facebook today, in response to a message of "Happy Bastille Day Everyone!" that I scribbled via keyboard on my Wall. She wrote: "Wow, someone else who remembers Bastille Day! I'm half French, what's...

Rules of the Road

2009-07-07T14:26:30-04:00

Discovered that a heavy-duty tow truck operator in Idaho bills as much an hour as a programmer who lives, well, everywhere. We were minding our own business, driving the new RV up through the mountains of Idaho, on our way...

Revisit: Chaunce, Paddy the Slasher and Miss Rheingold

2009-06-21T21:57:01-04:00

Note: This post was originally published on 6/18/06. Have received so many emails from folks about it, have decided to publish it again. Happy Father's Day, Dad. You are missed. Father's Day. It is terribly ironic that, in 1972, Richard...

Zen Messages Are Everywhere

2009-06-08T08:08:46-04:00

Adults Say the Darndest Things

2009-06-07T17:49:31-04:00

Now that the New Zealand trip is complete, thoughts turn to Art Linkletter. For those of you too young to know, too old to remember, or have no earthly idea who I am talking about, Art Linkletter hosted a very...

Pineapple Lumps, The Troubadour and Two Internet Ladies

2009-05-02T23:28:11-04:00

New Zealand is a land of interesting sights, sounds and connections. As you motor along, you discover things like this: And also like this: To this day, I do not know why I am so fascinated by this product, which...

The Blue Pearl of a Place

2009-04-27T23:53:15-04:00

Eastern philosophers believe there is a small blue light that lives inside each of us. Some say it exists in the head; others, the heart. Through this little orb there is a gateway to something so much bigger than we...

Graceland, New Zealand

2009-04-18T16:00:26-04:00

In 2005, while motoring through Texas, I stopped to use a restroom located in the city hall of a small town. Upon entering the vestibule of the building, I noticed a long display case with a glass front, similar to...

New Zealand Easter Sunday 2009

2009-04-12T02:19:14-04:00

Quote from New Zealand poet James Keir Baxter (June 29, 1926—October 22, 1972), etched on stone and placed in the water of Wellington Harbor. Happy Easter, everyone.

Wellington, NZ: Pizza from Hell, Andrew's Life, and Fidel's on Cuba Street

2009-04-04T05:20:51-04:00

Journal Entry -- 25 March 2009: "Arrived in Wellington late this afternoon. At the bus station, we found a cab driver from the Czech Republic who transported us to the i-Site Tourist center, complaining that the locals, and the Brits,...

New Zealand: Taking the Bus

2009-03-31T15:21:55-04:00

Seems to me when you visit a place, the more money you spend, the further away you place yourself from the folks who live there. That means it is time to take the bus to your next destination. When I...