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Hopefully grumpiness is not an inevitable consequence of advancing age, despite the profound political disillusionment...

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I'm not sure that grumpiness itself is age related - perhaps just the fact of not giving a damn about showing it !

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Sep 12, 2023Liked by Richard Partridge

Oh Richard ~ i thank the Good Lord above that he has blessed you with such a wonderful imagination!

I watched a woodworker once hold in his hand a chunk of wood, at least it appeared like a chunk to me. As he was interviewed by a news outlet, he held on tightly to that piece of wood explaining that to the ordinary person, the type of tree, the scent it gave off, and the age lines didn’t mean much. He explained that to him, by just using his imagination, along with his well honed skills and tools, he could make pretty much anything with that piece of wood!

With your imagination and well honed skills with writing and photography, you prove daily the woodworker’s point! Just because some people might see a chunk of wood like I did, once we understand the mystery and mastery behind the work, we are left to admire the craftsmanship you so beautifully put down on paper!

As a side note, I just had a silly realization, paper is made from wood!!! 😁

Excellent story my friend!

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Thank you REW that's incredibly kind of you to say. I think the biggest thing for me is that I love doing this - I strongly believe that there are so many interesting stories and ideas out there - the smallest thing can spark the imagination ...

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That guy in the picture could be my granddad. He was a master at handling cigarette ashes that extended to nearly - impossible lengths.

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I feel, for certain, that, like telephone boxes, cigarettes will soon become a thing of history ...

They always used to put picture cards in the boxes and my gran used to give me hers. I remember she would buy boxes of 400 with 20 packs and i'd make her open each one of them for the cards totally unaware that they'd all go stale ... I'm sure there must be a story in the lesser known sacrifices of our grand parents!

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I feel a pang of nostalgia for those days - But I would only want to visit for 24 hours or 48 then back. I wouldn't want to mess with the timeline, then find out that somehow find that Tibet conquered China or that Israeli blew up the Giza Plateau, etc.

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