Photograph by Bob Gentry 8/5/99
A Thought for Today
When we are at home we are usually in a better place.
A year ago this week some of the topics I
explored in the Flight Plan included a meditation on what it was like coming of age in
Oakland, just an A Train away from the city of my imagination, San Francisco. I called the
piece "Summer Dreams in San Francisco."
I wrote about an Encounter with William Carlos Williams a few years later when I was an
Army trainee (that story is the feature of Sunday's "Some of the Best.") I did a
column on the 'drip, drip, drip' of leaks from Kenneth Starr's White House investigation
and an ode to the last day of summer - which arrives this year on Wednesday - and I
mentioned being pleased with the re-mastering of "Beatsville for CD.
Time is running much faster than ever this year and my usual complaint about there never
being enough of it to get everything done is magnified. One thing I do want to acknowledge
before it gets any later is Ken's weekly "This One Does It For Me" feature in
which he runs letters on songs and poetry of mine that have found favor with various
individuals. I'm in constant surprise at the wide range of choices and the reasons for
them. Some even bring back memories of work forgotten. To those of you who have written
many thanks and a special nod to Ken for continuing to come up with ideas like this one.
- RM 9/15/99 previously unpublished. |
