From a very early age forward, I believed in God, Santa Claus, magic, miracles, guardian angels, ghosts, life on other planets and eternal life, amongst other things. And I've never been able to totally dismiss the possibility of garden faeries, sprites and other whimsical, fantastical characters and happenings either. Oh sure, it's left me the object of teasing and the brunt of jokes on occasion, but that's truly never phased me. I've always felt I was more in tune with certain things than the naysayers. (Life in my brain can be exhausting, but it's never boring.)
While so much of who I am is nature born, there's an big chunk of me that's nurture bred. My childhood environment fed my imagination and my imagination was often very hungry. There were plenty of books, records (remember those??), plays, poems, crafts, etc. And there were
Today's memory is comparatively brief. It centers around my late Great Uncle Eddie, a butcher in the outskirts of Boston, who looked a bit like the type of gangster who might hang out with Edward G. Robinson, but was the sweetest, most caring uncle to all of his nieces and nephews and a wonderful husband to my late Auntie.
At the time of this particular visit with him and Auntie, I was not yet in Kindergarten. The adults were gabbing away and children were literally expected to be 'seen and not heard.' But, OH WAS THAT HARD! So, I interrupted the flow of conversation once, then twice. Uncle Eddie could sense that my parents were
I'd never seen a cigar up close before, much less a cigar ring, so I asked him, "What am I supposed to do with this?" And with an expression combining seriousness with surprise, he said, "If you're very quiet and you hold this up to your ear, you can hear music." Well, I was determined to hear the music, so I was quiet and still. The more time that passed without me hearing so much as a note, the more determined I became.
Some of you are probably thinking it was only a clever way to get someone like me to behave. How narrow-minded of you! The fact is, I didn't hear the music that day...or any of the days I tried to thereafter...and I did...try to thereafter. BUT today, at age 52, I don't discount the possibility that the music exists. Thanks, Uncle Eddie!
Always looking forward, PJ
(There's a different box camera on the left side of the top shelf.) 
