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Not Just Another Tree
LISTEN A photo circa 1930’s of a maple tree (second from left) that’s now in decline and in need of rescue COURTESY OF RALPH GARDNER, JR. A few months ago I noticed that the large maple in front of...
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Mr. Fixit
LISTEN Medical experts are telling us that the next two or three months will be the most challenging of the pandemic, psychologically as well as medically. This would be a great time to acquire a...
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Beating a Path into the Woods
The author says that, given the contested state of the presidential election, he and his dog, Wallie, are spending a lot more time in the woods.PHOTO PROVIDED BY RALPH GARDNER JR GHENT, N.Y. — You’re...
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Leaf Blowing Season
LISTEN Ralph gets it done RALPH GARDNER, JR. When we were dating my wife excelled with the creativity of her gifts. For one birthday she presented me with a scale model of our pond. It came complete...
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The Joys of Winter Grilling
LISTEN I’ve heard and read lots of stories lately about how to pull off Thanksgiving safely in the middle of a pandemic. I’m not sure where or whether this suggestion fits in: why not consider...
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My Antique Bottle Problem
LISTEN Some antique bottles discovered in a 19th century dump at the writer’s house RALPH GARDNER, JR. During Phase 1 of the pandemic my wife turned her organizational skills to cleaning up our...
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To See Tanzania Shop Local
LISTEN Shopping local is to be encouraged. It’s obviously harder during a pandemic, especially if you’re a merchant with the likes of Amazon breathing down your neck. But Fahari Wambura seems to be...
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the Pleasures of a Winter Bath
LISTEN RALPH GARDNER, JR. As we descend into what’s predicted to be the darkest days of the pandemic here’s a low-cost, safe and convenient suggestion guaranteed to brighten your mood: take a bath....
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Our Holiday letter
LISTEN Has the season gone to the dogs? CREDIT RALPH GARDNER, JR. My wife asked me to write this year’s holiday newsletter. Why me I’m not sure except that I suppose I am the alleged writer in the...
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Coming Home
LISTEN Gracie Gardner RALPH GARDNER, JR. I pride myself on not being taken by surprise – physically, emotionally, existentially. You may forfeit some of life’s magic in the process. But the tendency...
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A January to Celebrate
LISTEN Senator Charles Schumer and fellow Brooklynites celebrating at Grand Army Plaza on November 7, 2020 CREDIT LUCY GARDNER January, from my point of view, is the cruelest month. Or certainly the...
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An American Story
LISTEN I wrote most of this commentary on Wednesday morning before the Capitol was stormed. Such cataclysmic events have a way of dividing life into before and after. But after rereading it I think it...
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Where’s My Package?
LISTEN The writer’s new squirrel baffle RALPH GARDNER, JR. You’re probably familiar with the line in that Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” – “Don’t it always seem to go. That you don’t know what...
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Assembling History
LISTEN Suspecting that the Trump presidency marked a rocky but historic ride for the American people I started collecting front pages of the New York Times on November 9th, 2016, the morning after...
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The Custom of the Country
LISTEN The New York Times gave a nod to my good taste a few days ago. They didn’t identify me explicitly, or even obliquely. But they did so by featuring a story they headlined “How Can We Read Edith...
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A Modest Silver Lining
LISTEN RALPH GARDNER JR. The pandemic rages on, but with vaccines on the way and already in a bunch of arms, is it too soon to feel sentimental about small, discreet aspects of the plague? That...
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Hunting for a Chocolate Heart
LISTEN I paid a visit Monday afternoon to Vasilow’s. That’s my go-to, old-fashioned, tin ceiling candy store in Hudson, NY and yearly Valentine’s Day provisioner. I was trying to get a jump on the...
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The Pleasure of a Well-Sharpened Pencil
LISTEN Ralph’s happy pencil holder RALPH GARDNER JR. Life, especially these days, turns on the ability to appreciate small pleasures. But might there be pleasures too small to appreciate? And even...
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Love at a Distance
LISTEN Disaster comes in different forms and orders of magnitude. I won’t attempt to define them here except for one: catastrophes that you’re happy your parents weren’t alive to see. That’s an...
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Vaccinated
LISTEN Vaccine site at Hudson Valley Community College’s McDonough Sports Complex RALPH GARDNER JR. Sometimes you don’t see the patterns in life until you look back from a distance. Other times you...
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