Category Archives: Essays

The Essay that Started it All: Nitrogen Blue Skies

  The Essay that Started it All: Nitrogen Blue Skies Introduction We began including essays in our newsletters in the autumn of 2006. They would later become a feature of our weekly newsletters. But today, 19 years later, we thought you’d like to walk down memory lane with us and read the first essay we published in what… Read More »

The Lady in the Attic

  The Lady in the Attic I was 10 years old. My world ended the day she left. Cancer, a silent thief, stole her laughter, warmth, and love from me, leaving an empty silence in our small house that would echo throughout my life louder than any storm. After she died, I was afraid to go to bed… Read More »

I Still Haven’t Dropped Off

  I Still Haven’t Dropped Off I’m happy to report that I still have not dropped off. I’m not sure if “happy” is the correct word, maybe “relieved” would be more apt. There are many things about getting old that are difficult. One of the most difficult is getting used to looking backward. And buying new things when… Read More »

A Man Called Sam

  A Man Called Sam When I was growing up, I stayed with my grandparents on the weekends and during my summer vacations from school. Not because I was sent there but because I loved being with my grandparents. And, when I was 7 or 8, there were no other kids in the neighborhood my age, so my… Read More »

The Witch of 42nd Street

    The Witch of 42nd Street The world has changed so much since I was a kid. I suppose every generation has said that. My grandfather saw the first cars, the first airplanes, the first radios, the first telephones, the first TVs, and the first color TVs, and he lived long enough to see a man set… Read More »