Ken would have loved this stuff. We talked a lot about the miracle of the internet, and how it could be used for so many positive things. Blogging alone would have been a thrill for him, as I no doubt know he would have started his own on any number of subjects. Scanning and uploading/organizing photos would have been a top priority for him as it is for me. He just might have upgraded his old clunker of a computer.
As you may have noticed, I found a way to use Yelp.com for a while to show some of the 'Geography of Ken's Life'. I will probably remove that soon as Picasa now has enabled me to embed a slide show right on this blog, but also to map the photos I've uploaded so far. But please don't stop with the slide show: you can now click on the 'Ken's photos' link, then click on the fairly small 'View Map' link. I have mapped nearly all of the photos so far, with only a handful I'm not 100% sure about yet as far as where they were taken. Please keep in mind that I have only scanned and uploaded prints so far: there are many more slides I have to scan and upload. So please check back once in a while as I continue to build on a project I will continue to build on indefinitely...
PS Speaking of technology, below is a YouTube video of Nunley's just before it was closed in 1995. We were there as kids, as teenagers, and with Marie, including its last day.
Showing posts with label Baldwin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baldwin. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Here comes March
Of course it's great when March arrives, as the weather finally starts to do an about face. St. Patrick's Day, now being marketed as St. Patrick's Season by greedy beer merchants, is just a few weeks away.
Perhaps in another 5 or 10 years....no... March 21st will never stop haunting me. Even the folks at Fullerton Funeral Home in Baldwin, NY, were dumbstruck when I told them Ken passed away on the same day as dad. I assumed that having run the funeral home for so many years, they had heard of such 'coincidences' before. It wasn't coincidence, though. Ken simply decided to die that day.
I forgot to tell them that he lived only 19 days longer than mom. (if you take away the last 2 weeks of her life when she was in a coma, then their life spans were identical) If I had reminded them of her, they would have remembered her, as her wake was at Fullerton, too. I had to chase the paparazzi off the steps of St. Christopher's next door.
Perhaps I was distracted by Mr. Fullerton's fate, as I sat down with him in December, but suddenly died before my second visit a few weeks later...
I wasn't totally surprised once Ken had survived to March. I actually expected it. He was a human time keeping machine, always keenly aware of its passing. He loved watches and time pieces of all kinds. Clocks and watches (mantle clocks, clock radios, diving watches) were given as Xmas gifts. He would often stare at the hands on his watch moving, feeling mystified, disturbed, perhaps terrified. He bought himself one of those Pierce Brosnan diving watches, being a huge 007 fan as well as a passionate diver. (Why do you think he majored in Russian and diving? Thunderball!)
It also made him very grateful for every day. After years of despising the winter months, he changed enough to advise me, "Never wish away time."
March 21st, the Vernal Equinox, the last day of winter, the first day of spring, sunrise at the North Pole, sunset at the South Pole...swiftly flow the years...
The season is already known as the cruelest since it "mixes memory with desire". How much more bittersweet now.
Perhaps in another 5 or 10 years....no... March 21st will never stop haunting me. Even the folks at Fullerton Funeral Home in Baldwin, NY, were dumbstruck when I told them Ken passed away on the same day as dad. I assumed that having run the funeral home for so many years, they had heard of such 'coincidences' before. It wasn't coincidence, though. Ken simply decided to die that day.
I forgot to tell them that he lived only 19 days longer than mom. (if you take away the last 2 weeks of her life when she was in a coma, then their life spans were identical) If I had reminded them of her, they would have remembered her, as her wake was at Fullerton, too. I had to chase the paparazzi off the steps of St. Christopher's next door.
Perhaps I was distracted by Mr. Fullerton's fate, as I sat down with him in December, but suddenly died before my second visit a few weeks later...
I wasn't totally surprised once Ken had survived to March. I actually expected it. He was a human time keeping machine, always keenly aware of its passing. He loved watches and time pieces of all kinds. Clocks and watches (mantle clocks, clock radios, diving watches) were given as Xmas gifts. He would often stare at the hands on his watch moving, feeling mystified, disturbed, perhaps terrified. He bought himself one of those Pierce Brosnan diving watches, being a huge 007 fan as well as a passionate diver. (Why do you think he majored in Russian and diving? Thunderball!)
It also made him very grateful for every day. After years of despising the winter months, he changed enough to advise me, "Never wish away time."
March 21st, the Vernal Equinox, the last day of winter, the first day of spring, sunrise at the North Pole, sunset at the South Pole...swiftly flow the years...
The season is already known as the cruelest since it "mixes memory with desire". How much more bittersweet now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
