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The wisdom of children. That little girl asked you 3 insightful questions. Lately I am wondering if those three questions can't define a life. What are you doing? Do people know you? Do people remember you?

It's the answers to those very questions which are haunting my days, and even more so the nights right now. My answers are indictments of my life. I'm doing nothing. Nobody knows me and nobody will remember me. Somehow I always foresaw this would be how it ended for me. It's almost as if I have achieved a lifelong goal. Others seem to die suddenly, without warning. Now they're here, then they are not. For me dying has been hard, a lifetime's effort as I have bit by bit dismantled the life into which by no effort on my part, I fell into. Now I am almost done. Almost the only thing remaining is for my body to stop. Time to find somewhere to park it for the final stage.

Be glad you could answer her questions satisfactorily Linh. My own answers would have elicited a scowl of contempt I suspect. Little children with hopes and aspirations would not forgive my own profligacy with the precious gift of time.

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Being tired of life from the beginning (is reincarnation a thing?), I have spent my entire life outside cities, with a few exceptions in Vancouver and Cape Town, for awhile.

I am not a daring person but need space.

Soon I will get up and make myself a cup of herbal tea in a brown pottery tea pot from Germany and pour it, over and over, into one of a set of little brown tea cups which are white porcelain on the inside and woven material on the outside. I have always thought they were from Vietnam but I am not sure why. Like most nice things I own I picked them up at an opportunity shop (thrift shop to you). I will raise my cup to your postcards and to your determination to share your sketches with us in the face of a world which has always been mad. I am not sure which I enjoy more, your sketches or your photos. Good morning!

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founding

I moved all over the country during my working life, and the places I lived varied dramatically. Some I liked better than others. One area that was definitely NOT prosperous was the county a dozen miles or so northwest of Pittsburgh. Formerly Big Steel, by the time I got there it was so depressed that it kind of brought me down.

But the people I ended up working with there were the best, and after awhile I eventually found that even places like that had their charms if you kept your eyes open. A great little family bakery that opened at 5am and had the world's best donuts. A couple who ran a "gourmet takeout" place; the guy had been a chef at a fancy San Francisco hotel, but left it so his wife could come back to small town PA. (I used to think his talent was "wasted", but that is pretty snobby--I checked recently and he is still there, over 20 years later!) And the little watering hole I found was the best one I've ever been to, either before or since.

Just have to watch the world go by...

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Beautiful essay, Linh. Thanks for taking me out of my mundane thoughts....blessings, p

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I visited Goethe's family house in Frankfurt (wholly rebuilt, as it was bombed by the Allies in WWII, but the furniture and art was safe in storage and is original). On the walls of one of the main rooms, there were several drawings of Italy that Goethe's father purchased during his trip. It seems the memory of that travel impacted his life. His famous son, later on, also did the "Grand Tour".

It's interesting how certain fleeting things in life can have a big impact, while others are soon forgotten. But it's also true one does not need to travel to see life in all its wretchedness and splendour. It is everywhere, and not even the "new normality" can erase it.

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Robert Walser took many long walks,sometimes for dozens of miles."Today I was in the forest.It was glorious",he would say.He even died walking in the forest.A framed photograph of him dead on his back in the snow was hanging in my parents house.

Great writing,uncle.

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how do I find your photo blog?

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Is that grandpa lying on the road to rest, or did he have an accident?

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