Tag: Twenty-Five Years Ago
XLV
Here I am on my 20th birthday, with my mother and sister. My hair was thicker then. That was 25 years ago today. For as long as I can remember, I’ve contemplated my mortality on an almost daily basis, yet I’ve often behaved as if I think I’m immortal. I’ve frequently envisioned myself as an […]
Read More → XLVWelcome Home You Blue-Haired Freak
Twenty-five years ago — I came home from Sweden with blue hair, much to my parents’ shock and my sister’s delight. At least I think she was delighted. Kind of hard to tell in this photo. Certainly I was glad to be back home. It was a great experience, my year abroad, but it was […]
Read More → Welcome Home You Blue-Haired FreakLåtom Oss Fröjdas i Ungdomens Vår
25 years ago today I was singing this song and graduating from high school in Sweden.
Read More → Låtom Oss Fröjdas i Ungdomens VårWalpurgis
Twenty-five years ago tonight, I was at a bonfire in northern Sweden. I was astounded by the size of the thing — like a house burning. It may not look like night in these photos, but remember that we were very near the arctic circle. By late June it hardly got dark at all. Note […]
Read More → WalpurgisSpring Thaw
Kalix, April 28, 1986 (twenty-five years ago today) All of a sudden Sweden melted and I found myself in the Garden of Eden. No kidding. Today it got up to +10ºC. There’s still snow on the ground in lots of places, but much of it has melted now. Parched-dry streets streaked with rivulets of flowing […]
Read More → Spring ThawMoscow
25 years ago today I was visiting Moscow. That was a great trip, which remains a highlight of my life. Back in 1985, visiting Moscow was no trivial thing for an American. It meant going behind the “Iron Curtain.” It was toward the end of the so-called Second Cold War. Gorbachev had become the General […]
Read More → MoscowClass of ’85
I recently got an invite to my 25th high school reunion, and I thought — twenty-five years? Has it really been that long? I guess it has. I’m sure I’d enjoy it, but being as it’s a thousand miles away, I don’t plan to attend. I say that with full awareness that fate has a […]
Read More → Class of ’85Apostaversary
Today I celebrate a quarter-century of atheism. A quarter century? Why yes. Here is an entry from my journal 25 years ago today: October 28th, 1984 10:58 PM Sunday God. I used to believe in God. But do I now? I don’t think so. I can’t see any reason to. And if I must accept […]
Read More → Apostaversary