The Fable of the Three Sinners, By Tom Cole
The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine, circa 1978-79.

This magazine arrived just when I had moved into my new apartment on Central Avenue in New Haven.  Sometime I will type in the entire text of Tom Cole's great fable about the three sinners, but for now I will only present the last few paragraphs of his conclusion:

    "This is what happened to the three:  the friar, set free to wander the forests minus his hands, was attacked by a large bear and killed.  He put up no resistance, for he saw it was God's judgement upon him.  
    "The Huntsman vowed vengeance for every stroke of the cruel whip that laid open his back.  He apprenticed himself to an assassin and grew very skilled in the art of murder, until one day he sought the King in his bedchamber to requite the old grievance.  The huntsman, however, was surprised and killed by one of the Royal Guard.
    "The minstrel whiled away the time needed for his eyes to heal by playing.  He became quite accomplished, and spent the greater part of every day thereafter in practice, for other worldly pleasures were denied him.  He serenaded the greatest peers of several realms, and when he died ballads were written of him.

    "MORAL:  Do not go backwards, that is resentment;  do not stand still, that is passive;  go forward, and love your fate."



Thank you, Tom Cole, for your saving words.  

Jackson Browne sings his great song... 

                                                      "Before The Deluge"                                             

Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other's heart for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the deluge

Some of them knew pleasure
And some of them knew pain
And for some of them it was only the moment that mattered
And on the brave and crazy wings of youth
They went flying around in the rain
And their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered
And in the end they traded their tired wings
For the resignation that living brings
And exchanged love's bright and fragile glow
For the glitter and the rouge
And in the moment they were swept before the deluge

Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by...
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky

Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge

Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by...
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky

Click below to hear the concert version of this song....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQM41vBKvs

PEACE AND LOVE

"High crimes and misdemeanors....."

John Lennon knew it all..."Nobody told me":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuhsqA95iA

"Nobody Told Me"

Everybody's talking and no one says a word
Everybody's making love and no one really cares
There's Nazis in the bathroom just below the stairs
Always something happening and nothing going on
There's always something cooking and nothing in the pot
They're starving back in China so finish what you got

Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed -- strange days indeed

Everybody's runnin' and no one makes a move
Everyone's a winner and nothing left to lose
There's a little yellow idol to the north of Katmandu
Everybody's flying and no one leaves the ground
Everybody's crying and no one makes a sound
There's a place for us in the movies you just gotta lay around

Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama

Everybody's smoking and no one's getting high
Everybody's flying and never touch the sky
There's a UFO over New York and I ain't too surprised

Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama

July 15, 2018

Dear Ben,

On this, your Grandma Margoles' birthday, I want to thank you very much for your amazing and generous help.  You have become the leader of the pack.  

Best wishes, take care, love, Dad

John Lennon sings "Beautiful boy (Darling Boy)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt3IOdDE5iA

And of course, John Lennon sings "Stand by me":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqB8Dm65X18

John Denver sings "Daydream"....click below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQrgE9Fl5bw

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/opinion/sunday/co-sleeping-with-toddlers.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region