May 2021
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For many years, we've had to make do with this inferior fly-swatter: It's made of molded plastic and extruded metal wire. It's not handsome — a ghastly inappropriate pink-purple color for the flapper and a small gauge white-coated wire for the handle. Is there a name fpr this styleless style, other than dime-store cheap. Mid-century…
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When I was a boy, I was regularly reprimanded with these words (or some variation of them): "Don't slouch." "You're slouching! "You're slouching again!" "Why are you slouching?" Apparently I was a natural sloucher. It was a difficult criticism to absorb or to counter. I wasn't entirely sure what the word "slouch" meant but I…
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From our part of Vermont comes some ghastly news. In a paranoid fit, James Perry Jr. shot and killed Karina, his 38-year-old daughter. According to the Vermont Digger, our internet newspaper, Perry had been holing up in his home, convinced that "bad guys with guns" were after him. Here's part of the newspaper account: "Perry…
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Here's a a handsome old double-weave Jacquard coverlet in all its flowery glory, right there on our very own bed. Extraordinarily decorative, is it not? Cotton and wool, and generous with the well-saturated indigo dye. State-of-the-art hand weaving. I especially prize this particular coverlet because of its history. It was woven for Charity Maria Laws…