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<p>I'm sending the compilation of pieces to be critiqued at our next
meeting early because I'll be out of town this weekend and won't
be back until Monday evening. See you Tuesday.</p>
<p>***</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">###1. Brad Corallo’s Poem</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">The Knowledge Puzzle</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">© By Brad Corallo</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span
style="mso-tab-count:2"> </span>Word
count 141</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">It
has been said:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">to
live, is to be marked. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Mistakes
and failures are </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">crucial
sculpting tools.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">As
are the victories and triumphs,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">That
illuminate our many thousand days. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Of
course, when they are ravaging our precarious stance,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">There
is no comfort in such knowledge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The
interrelation of things, time and events </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
all our choices</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">comprise
the loom on which</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The
fabric of our lives is woven. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">We
try to distill</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Some
meaning in all such.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">And,
do we discern something</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Working
behind the scenes? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Are
our perceived recognitions real?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Or
are they no more</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">than
beliefs that give us comfort;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">masquerading
as epiphany and wisdom? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Better
men than I</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Have
struggled with such questions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I
believe there is no way to be sure</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">but,
I am sure that,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I truly don’t know!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">###2.
Leonard Tuchyner’s Essay</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">Where to Find Small Rattlesnakes</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">by</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">Leonard Tuchyner</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Walking
barefoot in Florida may be hazardous to your health. I
discovered that when I
was seventeen years old.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Having
been
raised in Irvington, New Jersey, the only times I ever walked
around barefooted
was when I was at a lake, river, seashore or pool. Sand was
always an
opportunity to experience the freedom of shoeless toes,
all-in-all a wonderful
sensation. So when I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1958
and was
confronted with a plethora of sand, I was in barefoot heaven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">No
matter where I lived, it was always an opportunity for
exploration. I didn’t
know I was slowly going blind when I was seventeen, except
that when I drove a
car at night, I noticed I wasn’t seeing a lot of things I
should have been
seeing. So I told people I was night blind, but I really
didn’t mean it. It
just helped me to explain to my father why the front bumper of
the family car
was a little closer to the chassis than it used to be. “I’m
night blind, you
know. I didn’t notice the concrete marker in front of the
parking space.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">He
didn’t believe me, of course. But what could he say? He had
his heart set on
buying a new used car and needed me to be the inheritor of the
old Plymouth. If
he told my Mom that I was blind, she certainly wouldn’t allow
him to allow me
to drive a car, and then he wouldn’t be able to buy the Ford
he had all ready
purchased in his mind. So it all worked out in my favor. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Since
I was not (really) blind, it didn’t occur to me that I might
not see things in
the daylight that maybe it would be better if I did see. I
might, for instance,
step on things with my bare feet I oughtn’t to have stepped
on. That would
include dog scat, broken glass, sharp stones, fire ant
colonies and poison
jellyfish lying just above the surf line.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I had
a lot of time to myself in the first summer of my arrival at
St. Petersburg,
because having just arrived there and knowing no one, I had a
limited number of
friends. Limited translates to none. With all that time to
myself, I was free
to pursue my hobbies of exploration. St. Pete, in 1958, was
nothing like it is
today.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was
undeveloped, relative to
where I came from. One of the things it did have was pathways
into open spaces
that stretched beyond my visual horizons. So off I would go,
taking my unclad
feet with me, into the wilderness. I made some wonderful
discoveries. For
example, I found the wreckage of an entire wooden boat, about
sixteen feet
long. Those were the days of wooden vessels. I never ran into
plastic ones like
they have today. It was the kind of boat upon which you
attached a motor on the
very end.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s
called the stern.
Unsurprisingly, the motor was missing, and the transom was
rotted out. But it
had a wonderful ornament on its front. It looked a lot like
the hood ornament
of a car.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I
discovered that it is best to stick to a pathway when walking
unshod. We didn’t
have cacti in New Jersey, so I wasn’t prepared for low-lying
spikes that messed
up naked feet when given the opportunity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">In
Irvington, I never ran across any snakes except garter snakes
which we found
under rocks. It never occurred to me or any other boy I knew
that they were
capable of biting. It’s not unexpected then that I wasn’t
looking out for
snakes when on my excursions. That’s perfectly reasonable, is
it not? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">In
any
case, I learned about venomous snakes on one particular day
while waltzing
around the out-back. On that occasion I heard an interesting
sound. It was a
sound resembling the noise that dry seeds make when shaken in
a dried up
bean-pod.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was a
muted rattle.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I
know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I was in the close
proximity of a
snake that rattles its tail. Well, you are wrong. I was smack
dab in the middle
of a whole mess of these little fellers, many of them within a
foot or two of
my vulnerable feet, not to mention unprotected shins. It
didn’t take me long to
recognize what they were. They were very small rattlesnakes. I
think they call
them pygmy rattlesnakes. I’d seen enough Western movies to
know that you did
not want to be fanged by one of those things. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">There
was no way out. I was surrounded by what seemed at the time to
be a galaxy of
writhing death. I didn’t have time to think, thank goodness.
If I did, my feet
would have remained frozen to the ground and those little guys
would have had
no choice but to strike, just to prove they could.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I didn’t have time to
consider that my
chances of picking my way through that mess without stepping
on most of them
were highly improbable. I wouldn’t have told myself ‘you
cannot walk on air’.
Suddenly, my unreliable eyes saw the world with clarity worthy
of an eagle, and
I took off like a bat out of hell, finding spaces where they
did not exist, and
doing so with a mind that had gone to another dimension.
Somehow, I transported
to a place of safety, beyond striking distance of those pygmy
rattlers. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">It
happened so fast I didn’t even have time to be frightened.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I stood there near the
edge of their nest,
wondering how it came to be that I was standing at the edge of
a swarm of
rattlesnakes with whom I’d been in intimate proximity a moment
earlier.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">You
might think this ended my career as a wilderness scout. It did
not. I just did
it with high-top sneakers from that day forward. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">This
was just another story I never told my parents.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">###3. Abbie Taylor’s Creative Nonfiction
Piece</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"
align="center">Montezuma’s
Revenge</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"
align="center"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"
align="center"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"
align="center"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“This
is a dump,”
said Dad, as I gazed around our hotel room in Hermosio, Mexico.
With my limited
vision, I spied two double beds, no telephone or television set,
and no other
furniture. I peered into the bathroom, no bigger than a closet,
with a sink,
toilet, and shower. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">With
no air
conditioning in the summer heat, sweat trickled under my armpits
and
accumulated on my brow. According to Dad’s guidebook, this hotel
had rooms with
a view of a courtyard. Our room had a view of nothing I could
see.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">At
twelve years
old, I was too excited to care. In June of 1973 after almost a
year of studying
Spanish, Dad and I had finally realized our dream of taking a
trip to Mexico.
After traveling most of the day by bus from Tucson
to Nogales, Arizona,
and then from Nogales
to Hermosio by train, I was glad to be here. Although it was
after midnight, I
was far from tired. “I’m hungry,” I said. “Let’s find a
restaurant.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“You
bet,” said
Dad. He consulted his guidebook. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">We took a taxi to a
restaurant
where I enjoyed my first meal in Mexico: cheese enchiladas with
rice and beans.
Afterward, we returned to our sweltering room and tried to get
some sleep. A
couple of hours later, after tossing and turning, our bodies
drenched in sweat,
Dad said, “I can’t stand this anymore. Let’s get the hell out of
here.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
climbed out of
bed and consulted my Braille watch. It was four o’clock in the
morning. “Should
I get dressed?” I asked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“No,
just put on
your thongs, and let’s go.” He wore nothing but boxer shorts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
put on my thongs
and went in the bathroom. When I came out, I was relieved to
find that Dad had
put on a shirt. My nightgown clung to me, as we carried our
suitcases down the
stairs to the ground floor. In the deserted lobby, Dad left the
room key on the
counter. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">It
wasn’t much
cooler outside. When we found a cab, Dad told the driver in
English, “Too hot.
Can’t sleep.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
said in Spanish
that we needed to go to a different hotel because we were hot. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
place where we
were taken not only had air conditioning in the rooms but an
elevator. After we
checked in, Dad, knowing I was thirsty, said to the clerk,
“CocaCola?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">“No,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">agua</i>,” answered the
clerk.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">Because
we knew
not to drink the water, Dad said, “No.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">I
said, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">No gracias</i>.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
noticed little
about the room except it was cool. I collapsed between the crisp
bed sheets and
went right to sleep. When I woke in the morning, the room
appeared no different
from hotel rooms in the United States. Two double beds were
flanked by a
night stand, and a couple of armchairs and a small table stood
in one corner. A
television set was mounted on the wall, and a telephone sat on
the night stand.
According to my watch, it was nine o’clock.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Dad
was sitting in
one of the chairs, studying the guidebook. “Good morning,
honey,” he said. “Why
don’t you get dressed, and we’ll get some breakfast? There’s a
restaurant here
in the hotel.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
bathroom was
huge, containing a vast tub with a shower, a toilet, and a sink
with a long
counter. I brushed my teeth, trying not to swallow the water. In
the
restaurant, we ordered an American breakfast of pancakes and
sausage. Dad
suggested we take the bus to Guaymas, near the sea. “It’ll be
cooler there,” he
said. “You can swim in the ocean.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“That’s
great,” I
said. In the hotel’s air conditioned comfort, my spirits had
lifted, and I was
looking forward to the Mexican experience.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">We
took a taxi to
the bus station. On the way, our English speaking driver, upon
learning we were
from the United States,
took us on a scenic tour of the city. At the bus station, Dad
bought two
tickets to Guaymas. We met a woman from the United States, and
she and Dad
carried on a conversation in English until our bus was ready to
leave.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">It
was about a
three-hour trip from Hermosio to Guaymas. When we arrived in
mid-afternoon, we
took another taxi to a motel overlooking the beach. On the way,
I spotted a
hill and pointed it out to Dad in Spanish. The driver chuckled
as if I’d never
seen a hill before. What he didn’t realize was that I was
thrilled at any
opportunity to use the Spanish I’d learned over the past year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">The
motel was
another recommended by Dad’s guide book. We were given a
bungalow with a cement
porch and a screen door. It faced the ocean, and the beach was
only a few steps
away. The room contained two double beds with a night stand in
between and a
table and two armchairs. An adjoining bathroom contained a
toilet, sink, and
shower, not as grand as the bathroom I used that morning in
Hermosio. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">A
telephone sat on
the night stand. It had no dial or buttons. “How do you make a
call on this
phone?” I asked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“When
you pick up
the phone, an operator at the front desk answers, and you give
her the number,”
Dad said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">We
hit the crowded
beach right away. My excitement was soon dampened by the
drenching ocean waves
that nearly knocked me down and the awful, salty taste of the
water. Since I
wasn’t much of a swimmer, I stayed in the shallow water and
tried to walk next
to the shore. Rocks hurt my feet, and waves slowed my progress.
As Dad swam into
deeper water, I longed for the swimming pool in our neighbor’s
back yard in Tucson.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
spotted a dock
and a stretch of calm water nearby. When Dad returned to shore,
I asked why we
couldn’t swim there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Because
that’s
where ships go,” he answered. It wasn’t fair that ships got calm
water while
swimmers got waves, but I said nothing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">That
night, Dad
suggested we eat at another restaurant recommended by the guide
book. When he
told the cab driver in Spanish where we wanted to go, he said
the restaurant no
longer existed. He suggested another place that specialized in
seafood, and we
went there. I didn’t like fish, but I said nothing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Dad
ordered
lobster for both of us. He removed the meat, buttered it, and
put it in my
mouth. It was awfully rich, but I managed to get it down. I
wondered what
Mother and my younger brother Andy were having for dinner. I
pictured
spaghetti, lasagna, meat loaf, macaroni and cheese. I considered
closing my
eyes, clicking my heels together three times, and saying,
“There’s no place like
home.” That wouldn’t have worked, and Dad would have only gotten
mad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
next morning,
we took another obligatory swim in the ocean before eating
another American
breakfast of pancakes and sausages. Afterward, Dad found someone
to take us out
in a motorboat. The seats were comfortable, and the trip was
uneventful except
for one point when seaweed got caught in the engine, causing it
to stall. The
boat man, who spoke some English, explained the situation and
managed to
restart the motor. The water was calm, and I didn’t get sick,
yet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">When
we returned
to the dock, I said, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Gracias</i>.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Oh
no, don’t
thank him yet,” said Dad, a note of alarm in his voice. “I
haven’t paid him.”
The man chuckled.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">After
Dad settled
the score and we were walking away, I asked, “Why shouldn’t I
have thanked him
before you paid him?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“If
Mexicans think
you’re not going to pay them, they’ll take you to jail, and a
Mexican prison is
worse than anything you can imagine.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“They
wouldn’t put
me in jail, too, would they?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Oh
yes, you’d be
in there with me.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“They
wouldn’t
just send me home?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“No.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">At
that point, I
decided I’d had about enough of Mexico. “Let’s go home,” said
Dad, as if
reading my thoughts. “We don’t have much money left.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">We
returned to our
bungalow to find that the cleaning lady had taken our towels and
not brought
clean ones. I took a shower and dried myself with one of Dad’s
shirts. Dad
picked up the phone and asked the operator in Spanish how much
it would cost to
place a long distance call to Tucson.
He hung up a moment later saying, “It’s too expensive.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">That
night, we ate
dinner at the motel. My stomach hurt, and I made a couple of
trips to the
restroom where I succumbed to diarrhea. After dinner, we checked
out of the
motel and took a taxi downtown to the bus station. The bus for
Nogales wouldn’t leave for several hours. Dad
rented a locker for our luggage. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">We
walked around
downtown Guaymas. Most of the shops were closed, but we stopped
so Dad could
look in the windows. My stomach still hurt, and my bowels
threatened to
disgorge more diarrhea. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">“Did
you drink the
water?” asked Dad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">“No,”
I answered.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%">At
a drugstore,
Dad found someone who spoke English to help make a collect call
home from a pay
phone. “Can I talk to Mom?” I asked after he spoke to her for a
few minutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">He
handed me the
phone and whispered, “Don’t tell her you’re sic. She’ll worry.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Hi
Mom.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Hi
sweetie.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">It
was so good to
hear her voice. I wanted to cry but managed to stay dry-eyed, as
I said, “We
had a good time, but I miss you, and I can’t wait to come home.
I love you.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“I
love you too,
honey.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
drugstore had
no restroom so we found a restaurant, and the hostess was nice
enough to let me
use the bathroom. Afterward, we sat at a corner table, and Dad
ordered me a
Coke. It wasn’t the first time I drank a Coke in Mexico from a
glass with ice made
from water we shouldn’t have been drinking. I took a few
swallows and made
another trip to the bathroom, this time to throw up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
made several
more such trips. By the time we returned to the bus station a
few hours later,
I was weak and nauseated. I collapsed on a bench while Dad
retrieved our
luggage. The bus arrived, but it was full. There wouldn’t be
another bus until
morning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
stretched
lengthwise on the hard bench with no pillow. At least I wasn’t
in a Mexican
prison, I thought, as I moaned and bent my knees to my chest in
an attempt to
alleviate the nausea. “Do you have to throw up again?” Dad
asked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“No,
I just feel
sick.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
dozed, woke to
hear others around me, and realized they were talking about me
when someone
said “doctor” in Spanish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
rallied. “No, I
don’t need a doctor,” I said in Spanish. “I just want to go
home.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Maybe
we’d better
see about a train,” said Dad in English.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">I
didn’t want to
move, but I hauled myself off the bench and walked with Dad to a
waiting taxi.
At the train station, we were told that the next train would
leave for Nogales at dawn. Dad and
I camped out on the sidewalk next to the track. The cool air was
refreshing,
and I slept through the rest of the night. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
unmistakable
ding ding ding of the approaching train’s bell woke us. We
stood, and I could
see the sky growing light. “Is this our train?” I asked Dad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Yes,”
he
answered. I watched the train come to a complete stop in front
of us. I
stumbled on board, fell into a seat, and went right back to
sleep.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">When
I opened my
eyes, it was broad daylight. According to my watch, it was
eleven in the
morning. I was thirsty but didn’t feel sick. I breathed air into
my mouth and
licked my parched lips. I looked around for Dad but didn’t see
him. The seat
next to me was empty. I wished he would bring me a Coke. I dozed
for a while
and woke to find him next to me. “We’re pulling into Nogales,”
he said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Can
I have a
Coke?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“We’ll
see,” he
said with a sigh.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">My
legs felt like
led. Dad didn’t have enough money for a taxi so we left the
train station on
foot and found a bus stop about half a block away. The bus was
full, but we got
on and stood near the front, grasping a pole, as it lurched down
the road. It
stopped several times. People got off, and more got on. When a
couple of seats
opened up, Dad pulled me to them, and I let my legs come out
from under
me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">We
got off the bus
downtown and started strolling. “Where are we going?” I asked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“We’re
going to
the bus station, and we’ll take the bus home, but first, I told
your mother I’d
get her a pot, but I don’t think I have enough money.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">My
shorts and
t-shirt clung to me in the sultry afternoon heat. We stepped
into a shop where
a fan stirred the tepid air, bringing little relief. As we stood
in front of a
row of pots, Dad said, “These are more expensive than I thought
they would be.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">While
he weighed
his options, I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, as
sweat poured
down my brow and leaked from under my armpits. Finally, I said
in Spanish, “I’m
very hot.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“All
right!” he
yelled, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me out of the shop.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span
style="mso-tab-count:2"> </span>“I
thought you wanted to get a pot,” I said, as he hurried me down
the street.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">After
a couple of
blocks, Dad said, “Here’s the port of entry. We’re in the U.S.”
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">The
bus station
wasn’t much farther, and to my relief, a bus for Tucson was
getting ready to
leave with room for two more people. Dad bought the tickets, and
we got on
board. I sank onto a seat and closed my eyes. The next thing I
knew, Dad was
touching my shoulder and saying, “We’re in Tucson.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">In
the bus
station, he bought me a Coke from the machine. I sipped from the
bottle slowly,
feeling the cool, refreshing taste in my mouth, throat, and
stomach, hoping it
wouldn’t come up. Dad called Mother from a pay phone. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">They
arrived, my
younger brother Andy, with his usual four-year-old exuberance,
and Mother, with
her immediate concern when she saw me. “Honey, don’t you feel
well?” she asked,
placing a hand on my forehead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“She
threw up and
had diarrhea last night,” said Dad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Oh
sweetie,”
Mother said, holding me. “You didn’t drink the water, did you?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“No,”
I said,
burying my face in her chest, breathing in her reassuring scent.
At home, after
a little of Mother’s chicken soup from a can, I was glad to
finally slip
between the cool, clean sheets of my bed, saying to myself,
“There’s no place
like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">mi casa.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"
align="center">THE
END</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">###4. Valerie
Moreno’s Poem</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Battlefield</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Hate separates with
acid lines</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">drawn in the tender
space </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">between mind and
emotion,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">exploding fury.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Gun and granade are
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">replaced with acrid
words,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">beatists that
delight in hurting, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">words cast like
fiery arrows</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">in to bright,
blessed hearts</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">where healing comes
slowly--</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">perhaps, never!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">Some look away,
pretending,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">some dash for cover.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">I seek refuge in
light,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">lyric, prayer for
peace</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">before there is no
more hope.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">_______</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">What we love we
become, whom we
become shapes what we love.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>-St. Clare Of Assisi</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">###5. Alice Massa’s Poem</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:105%;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><b><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">Fifty Years later, Meet Me</span></b><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:105%;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:105%;
mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none" align="center"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">by Alice Jane-Marie Massa</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Once
again,
fifty years later,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">meet
me</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">at
the Little Italy Festival.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">This
time,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">follow
the green, white, and red lines</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">down
Ninth Street,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
meet me</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">at
Immigrant Square,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">west
of the Coal Fountain,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">in
the striped shadows of the twenty-six flags</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">which
represent countries</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">from
where Clinton area residents</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">have
immigrated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meet
me</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">in
front of the statue of the immigrant</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Luigi,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">with
his one hand waving</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
his other hand</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">holding
a valise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meet
me </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">by
the drinking fountain</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">called
"Il Toro"--</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">the
Bull--</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">like
Luigi,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">crafted</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">near
my ancestral home,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">in
Torino.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Then,
we will go</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">to
the riverfront,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">down
the terraced banks</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">where
Joe Airola </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">nurtured
his grapevines.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">On
the Wabash River,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">we
will take a gondola ride</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">in an
authentic gondola.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Returning
from our little taste of Venezia,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">we
will eat spumoni</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">as we
sit beside</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">the
Quattro Stagioni Fountain,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">listen
to the music of the main stage,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
absorb the chatter of festival-goers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Back
to Ninth Street,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">we
will tour the Little Italian House,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Il
Mercato, and the Wine Museum</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">where
you can buy one of my books.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Then,
in the Wine Garden,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">we
can sit </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">under
lush Grapevines and Hoosier stars,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">sip
Chianti,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">listen
to the polka band,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
talk of old times</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">and
fresh tomorrows.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Don't
be concerned:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">at
Immigrant Square,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">in
the midst of the crowd,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">you
will easily recognize me:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">I
will be the one</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">with
the Black Labrador</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">guide
dog.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meet
us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">number
of words: 254</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">August
21, 2017, Monday</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:105%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://abbiescorner.wordpress.com">http://abbiescorner.wordpress.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com">http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:abbie@mysero.net">abbie@mysero.net</a>
Order my new memoir at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/memoir.htm">http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/memoir.htm</a></pre>
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