Pandora's Other Box

A blue moon was immortalized in a musical standard that became a lover’s hymn… it is also part of a popular saying that implies that whatever is being alluded to, never really comes to pass… I wonder if these two apparently divergent concepts are related… This is one of those titles which allow the writer ( that’s me ) to go into all tangents available to his mind ( let’s assume it is working at this time ) and express most any idea without a real deep commitment to any of them. This week birds are in the news…or rather, one particular bird. According to Venezuela’s interim President this was the late Commander Chavez’ way to come back and communicate with him… Hmmm… and this man runs a country?... Then again… On the other hand, this is the same guy who would have us believe that at some point during Chavez’ last days, while in his death bead and comatose, he held a five ( Yes, 5 ) hour work session with him, and without the aid of a Ouija. Maybe that is what finally pushed h...

“Recovery” is a loose term which encompasses many of one’s attempts to right something that has gone wrong… physically, emotionally, economically and sometimes, a bit of all three combined. This June will mark the 5 th anniversary of my arrival in Charlotte, NC. No fanfares, no welcoming committee; this was not the arrival of a visiting dignitary… more like the coming to town of someone who maybe got off the bus by mistake, not knowing if this was the right place or not. I called my brother from one of the bus station’s payphones. One of the few areas where these were then still available and a reminder that most folk who regularly come through here, cannot afford to have cell phone services. As was my case then. My brother asked me to wait outside, he and his wife were on their way. Since the “family” reunion was already covered in “Part 1” of these entries some time ago, I won’t go into it again. I think best to fast forward to that point where my wife and I re-met aft...

“And what is left for you to see on this life?” was the last question asked by the show’s host of his guest, dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez… -“to see my country free of this tyrannical government” came the quick, unbridled answer… If you are a regular reader, a few entries ago there was mention of a lady who practices patriotism of the highest kind: the one which is done from within the bowels of the enemy… while your knees shake in fear. She has managed, over the last 7 years or so, to produce a blog which is now read by over 12million people a month, in some 40 countries of the world and which is translated into 14 languages. This was my first time with her; the anticipated moment when I would be able to actually watch and listen to this lady whose blog entries have been a guiding light to the realities of that beautiful country I left behind so many years ago; a country which is fast disappearing in the mists of time, fleeting threads of memories hanging on like a s...

There are those moments when all crickets quiet down, when the mind begins to drift and questions come unbidden… One of those questions is, inevitably, the one that appears on the title line and this is a question which sets our mind into a sometimes lonely memory trip. A trip down a road which is full of potential falls and of misunderstandings yet, full of lessons as well. What if… childhood dreams had been attained in the same country where I was born and where all those dreams were forged… What if… a family that was torn apart ( as thousands were in my homeland as well as in many other places, times and lives ) had been allowed to stay together… What if… people who were a part of our lives as growing up teens had been kept in the fold of our living… What if… plans made along the way had been able to be completed… at least to some extent, instead of having more often than not to –and not always voluntarily- change or forget them… What if… a life which has s...