Tempus Fugit: April 13, 1973, Fifty Years On…


“I blinked my eyes and in an instant, decades had passed.” ― John Mark Green, Taste the Wild Wonder: Poems It’s late morning here in my corner of Florida on Thursday, April 13, 2023. As I write this on a sunny spring day, I marvel – once again – at the (sobering) fact that 50Continue reading “Tempus Fugit: April 13, 1973, Fifty Years On…”

Tempus Fugit: On the Occasion of My 60th Birthday


“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” ― Andy Rooney So, today I turn 60 years old. On the day I was born: “I’m not ready to let the youthful part of myself go yet. If maturity means becomingContinue reading “Tempus Fugit: On the Occasion of My 60th Birthday”

Tempus Fugit: Life As I Knew It in January of ’73


Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. – Anthony G. Oettinger On January 20, 1973, I was nine going on 10 and lived in a modest but comfortable house, along with my widowed mother and my older half-sister, in Westchester, a suburb of Miami, Florida. 50 years ago, January 20 fell onContinue reading “Tempus Fugit: Life As I Knew It in January of ’73”

Tempus Fugit, or: That Endless Summer of 1972 – Transitions, Changes, and Memories


Tempus fugit. I am, as of late, preoccupied by the passage of time. Tempus fugit weighs heavily on my mind on this, my 50th consecutive summer since my mom, my older half-sister, and I moved back to the United States after living for six years in Bogota, Colombia. As you’ve probably noticed – if youContinue reading “Tempus Fugit, or: That Endless Summer of 1972 – Transitions, Changes, and Memories”

Tempus Fugit: July 1972, or: More Fragmented Memories from 50 Summers Ago


“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones 50 summers ago, I was almost nine-and-a-half years old and getting accustomed to living in the hot, humid, and often rainy conditions in Miami after living for six years in the colder climate of Bogota, Colombia, a huge metropolisContinue reading “Tempus Fugit: July 1972, or: More Fragmented Memories from 50 Summers Ago”

Tempus Fugit: July of 1972, or: Things I Remember from Midsummer of ’72


Tempus Fugit. It’s hard to believe, but 50 Julys ago, I was a nine-year-old boy, living in South Florida with my widowed mother in a small apartment in Sweetwater far removed from the lifestyle – and the family we left behind – we had enjoyed in Bogota, Colombia. Four months earlier, less than a weekContinue reading “Tempus Fugit: July of 1972, or: Things I Remember from Midsummer of ’72”

Tempus Fugit – Summer of 1972 Edition: Where Were You in ’72?


Hi, there, Dear Reader. It is afternoon in Lithia, Florida, on Saturday, June 25, 2022. It is a hot early summer day in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the temperature is 85°F (30°C) under mostly cloudy skies. With humidity at 78% and the wind blowing from the north-northwest at 5 MPH (8 KM/H), the heatContinue reading “Tempus Fugit – Summer of 1972 Edition: Where Were You in ’72?”

50 Years On: The Childhood I (Inadvertently) Forgot


Fifty years – a half-century – have come and gone since my childhood in Colombia ended, and my American childhood resumed after a six-year span of time away from my hometown of Miami, Florida. My family’s unexpected “reverse migration” from Bogota, Colombia’s Andean capital city, in the spring of 1972 was precipitated by a cerebralContinue reading “50 Years On: The Childhood I (Inadvertently) Forgot”

Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, March 8, 2022, or: On Hitting the Half-Century Mark After a Life-Changing Event…and Unreliable Memories


Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon in Lithia, Florida, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. It is a hot early spring day in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the temperature is 88˚F (31˚C) under partly sunny skies. With humidity at 61% and the wind blowing from the south-southwest at 6 MPH (10 KM/H), it feelsContinue reading “Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, March 8, 2022, or: On Hitting the Half-Century Mark After a Life-Changing Event…and Unreliable Memories”

Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, February 1, 2022, or: On the Passage of Time (and Other, Trivial Topics)


Greetings, Dear Reader. It is mid-morning here in Lithia, Florida on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. It is another chilly winter day in the Tampa Bay area, although there is a bit of a warming trend today. Presently the temperature is 51˚F (11˚C) under sunny conditions, although with the wind blowing from the east at 5Continue reading “Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, February 1, 2022, or: On the Passage of Time (and Other, Trivial Topics)”