Benign

Caution! This book isn't the product of a balanced life or a focused intellect. Rather than beginning, it just starts. It doesn't have an ending; it just stops. It doesn't have a plot (against anyone), but you'll meet plenty of characters, including family, friends, dreamers, drifters, life-living lovers, life-loving givers, takers, prophets, pilgrims, poets, pillars, preachers, and parts of yourselves. It doesn't follow a logical sequence of events because my life isn't a seamless garment. Rather, it's worn and torn from use, abuse, and the daily grind of living. But it's the only garment I have and this book reflects those sacred moments of my journey when I wrapped myself in it like a man seeking comfort from a storm.

Although the world is full of books of deep thoughts, deep meanings, and incredible insights, this is not one of them. Rather, it's a baby boomer's journey through my times of yore. Albert Einstein said, "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking." Looking back from a hilltop in the here-and-now, it's exciting to see just how far my generation of baby boomers has come, how much we've changed our way of thinking, and how much we changed the world. Boomers came of age in the Sixties during Kennedy's New Frontier. For many of us, Hal Borland's words, "A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life," are an accurate description of our Wonder Years. That's also true of the way of life in Benign, my hometown in upstate New York, for it was more than a town; it was a time.

Feeling like echoes wrapped in shadows, my memories of growing up a boomer in Benign often summon me home like my mother's call to supper. Running and laughing, I let the screen door slam behind me as I seek the embrace of warmth lost. This book is about the events, places, and people that still beat within the hearts of baby boomers. These snapshots are offered as evidence that the future can grow in the shadow of the past.