Different Slants

Hi!  Remember me?  I used to post here about politics and travel.  Turns out, travelling by sailboat can be quite time consuming.  I have just managed to maintain my other blog, Red Sky at Night, aimed at other sailors, as Crew and I visit 60 to 70 ports each season.

We are now spending our third consecutive winter in Turkey and continue to find it both delightful and surprising.  Western Turkey, where we live, is modern with excellent roads, good telecoms, very good healthcare with universal coverage and the best (and most) produce I have seen anywhere.  But lets talk about Christmas. (Read on …)

by Robert M. Katzman © December 21, 2013

People of the Book

Wandering brown-eyed

Through silent dark streets

Alone among the millions

Each December 25^th

For Millennia

Tinsel-less

Sleigh-less

Tree-less

Santa-less

Outside and looking in

No chimneys filled with myth

No stockings to hang

No mistletoe for kissing

***  (Read on …)

Robert M. Katzman’s Amazing Story:  http://www.differentslants.com/?p=355

© May 1, 2011

 (For my wife, Joyce)

For me, and perhaps for you..

Romance is rubbing her feet

While she’s sleeping

Snuggling while she’s awake

(Read on …)

Robert M. Katzman’s Amazing Story:  http://www.differentslants.com/?p=355

© December 4, 2013

A person I met at neighborhood gathering in early December this year asked me how my store was doing, in Skokie, Illinois. The actual answer would be: “Terrible!” like so many thousands of small businesses across America. But I didn’t say that. I said something else, that it really didn’t matter to me how successful my store was in the larger picture of my life.  She looked quizzical.

I briefly explained. She seemed surprised by my response, but then told me to write about it, that it might mean something to people who need hope. I hadn’t planned on doing that.  But since I have respect for Frances Roehm, who is an Online Librarian for the Skokie Library, and I consider her a friend, I told her I would do that, because she asked me. My story has nothing to do with Christmas, despite the date of it. The meaning of it is within me, all year, every year.

(Read on …)