Category Archives: New England

Happy Good Friday

April 7, 2012 – 3:25 pm

For Catholics around the world Ash Wednesday kicked off the Easter Season. Forty days of abstinence from a favorite pleasure was a token of sacrifice for the crucified Messiah. On Palm Sunday the faithful brandished palm fronds to celebrate the son of god entering Jerusalem. Each and every Good Friday of my childhood the priests [...]

By Peter | Also posted in heresy, religion | Tagged | Comments (0)

THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN NORTHERN MAINE by Peter Nolan Smith

March 21, 2012 – 4:31 pm

Bing Crosby couldn’t have sung WHITE CHRISTMAS on December 25, 1990. The sidewalks of New York were bare of snow, sleet, slush, and ice. The city entered 1991 equally whiteless. The month ended without any storms from the north and people were celebrating the end of winter. Few of us had heard of global warming. [...]

By Peter | Also posted in 90s, Driving, maine, semi-fiction, weather | Tagged | Comments (0)

THE RAT TRICK by Peter Nolan Smith

December 16, 2011 – 9:46 am

Hockey was bred into the blood of many New England boys. Frozen ponds and backyard rinks were our winter playground. My dreams of playing for the Boston Bruins ended with my father giving my older brother and me a lesson in how to skate backwards. We were standing the wind-swept surface of Watchic Pond. My [...]

By Peter | Also posted in 70s, Sports, boston, family, semi-fiction | Comments (0)

A BARK IS BETTER THAN A BITE By Peter Nolan Smith

November 25, 2011 – 11:07 am

Every diamond shop on West 47th Street was open seven days a week from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Sales people, guards, elevator operators, schleppers, cutters, setters, polishers, and even Lennie the Bum slaved throughout the holiday in hopes of scoring enough money pay off bills and buy presents for wives, lovers, and children. Stores extended [...]

By Peter | Also posted in 60s, Love, animals, boston, holiday, semi-fiction, youth | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Elegance of the Wampanoags

November 24, 2011 – 8:07 am

They were not the savages.

By Peter | Also posted in history, holiday | Comments (0)