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Can Trees Talk
LISTEN HERE Snap quiz. What are the large organisms that surround us, that provide beauty and shade, fuel and shelter, but that we know least about? I guess I gave it away with the shade part. It’s...
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The Newspaper of Record
LISTEN HERE The writer’s father and brother in the 1970’s RALPH GARDNER JR. I was filled with sadness the other day when I got off the phone after cancelling my 94-year-old mother’s New York Times...
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Snow Day
LISTEN HERE Snowstorms are more complicated than they used to be. I’m not referring to the weather, though that, too. I read that because of global warming we can expect more balmy winters, or at...
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The Art of the Croissant
LISTEN HERE This part of the world has a lot going for it: verdant nature, great vistas, a world-class river. But one of the areas where it cannot pat itself on the back is an abundance of good, let...
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A Perpetual Valentine
LISTEN HERE If a child were looking for convincing proof that magic exists in the world, and that one need never relinquish the passions of youth, that kid would have to travel no further than the...
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The Presence of Pets
LISTEN HERE Wallie CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR There are words in other languages that nail aspects of the human experience and for which there are no English equivalents. For example, “Shouganai” in...
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Alpaca Fluff
LISTEN HERE Suzanne Werner among her alpaca CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. Empty nesters typically move from the city to the country in search of a quieter, more contemplative, perhaps even more sedentary...
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A Singular Mother
LISTEN HERE Natalie Gardner, on the Eiffel Tower, 1940’s My mother passed away a couple of weeks ago and the situation couldn’t have been kinder. I don’t mean her death. That was sad, remains so, and...
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My Manager, George
LISTEN HERE For reasons I can’t quite explain, I don’t regularly check out the obituaries in the New York Times but I do in the Columbia Paper, our local paper in Columbia County. There’s something...
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The Runway Less Travelled
LISTEN HERE Bibhu Mohapatra fitting a model CREDIT COURTESY OF BIBHU MOHAPATRA There’s a TV commercial from a while back – I can’t remember whether it’s for a car company, cigarette manufacturer, or...
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I Brake for Salamanders
LISTEN HERE Spotted salamander CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. One should always exhibit caution when driving at night. But especially during March and April in these parts. That’s when some of our...
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My Earth Day 2019
LISTEN HERE The writer celebrating Earth Day. CREDIT LIZ NEUMARK I use Earth Day as an excuse to clean up the garbage that’s accumulated along our road over the previous twelve months. Actually, it’s...
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The Stages of Spring
LISTEN HERE Early spring in Central Park RALPH GARDNER JR. I have this theory that the season when you were born is your favorite season. Perhaps that’s because if you came from a reasonably happy...
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We Appreciate Your Feedback
LISTEN HERE CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. Our Honda CR-V feels like a member of the family. Our first one, purchased in 1997, was the second CR-V on the East Coast. We could have had the first but it...
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The Lure of the Garage Sales
LISTEN HERE Pamela Salisbury (Photo: Ralph Gardner, Jr.) The last thing I need at this moment is to spot a garage sale. I have enough material in our own basement to stock a dozen garage sales of...
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
LISTEN HERE Malcolm St. Clair, center, and Lucy Gardner, right, planting a tree in Prospect Park, Brooklyn RALPH GARDNER, JR. Other than having a baby – perhaps even including having a baby – what’s...
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And then there are the Books
LISTEN HERE Cleaning out the apartment where my parents lived for the last sixty years after my mother died in February, and where I grew up – the task was completed last week — presented various...
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Shooting Practice
LISTEN HERE Ralph Gardner at the antique firearms event in Kinderhook, NY I recently inherited a gun. Actually, a .22 rifle. I know what you’re thinking. I was thinking the same thing: Get rid of...
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Family Meal
LISTEN HERE Gracie Gardner, center, surrounded by family and Blue Hill at Stone Barns co-workers RALPH GARDNER, JR. Let me stipulate that the food was sublime, the service to match when we were...
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Summer’s Scourge
LISTEN HERE Poison Ivy CREDIT RALPH GARDNER, JR. Communing with nature comes at a cost. There’s lawn care. Pool care. Tree care. And I haven’t even gotten to our house and all its geriatric needs....
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