THE PARTIAL OBSERVER by ERNA MORGAN MCREYNOLDS Be Afraid, But Do It Anyway Why did I say yes? How could I have let myself be persuaded to compete to be the guest conductor of the Catskill Symphony Orchestra? Especially for the Cabaret concert, which is the symphony’s biggest fundraiser. Thinking back to my experience in the late 1990s, I can’t help but reflect and recall that without the extra money from this annual event, the symphony would have folded and…
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Be Afraid But Do it Anyway
LETTER from ERNA MORGAN MCREYNOLDS Moving horror stories bring back memories Moving? Whether you have changed countries or states or cities or streets you probably have some stories? Hearing a tale from a friend brought to mind some of the terrors. One of the scariest moves I made was back to upstate New York after years working in cities — first in New Zealand, then London and, finally, in Manhattan. It was a frightening move from my big-time journalism job…
LETTER from ERNA MORGAN McREYNOLDS Experiencing ‘Rashers’ To ‘Baps’ Just leaving Belfast to go to London was scary. Soldiers dressed in camouflage gear held machine guns and guarded barbed wire topped fences which ringed the airport. I kissed my family through the fence. Security whisked my suitcase away and sealed my handbag in cling wrap until we landed in London. After 10 days in Northern Ireland, I loved the security. I imagined my plane blown up in mid-air, hurtling to…
LETTER from ERNA MORGAN McREYNOLDS …But I Wasn’t Afraid Of ‘The Troubles’ You already know that I have been afraid to do almost everything I ever did, but that never stopped me. But then there were the times when I should have been afraid but wasn’t. Why did I think I could head off around the world at 21? Emigrate to New Zealand from a small Upstate dairy farm? From New Zealand there was no easy way to call home…
LETTER from ERNA MORGAN McREYNOLDS The Joys, Challenges of Retirement Mom told me that they promised her the “Golden Years” but she got the “Rust Years.” She had dreamed of retiring. Yet after a couple of weeks into retirement her litany changed from “can’t wait to retire” to telling me: “Don’t do it’’. My Mom was born when women were supposed to stay home, while their husbands supported the family. But, my Dad, Mom’s husband, lost their farm and his…
BE AFRAID, BUT DO IT ANYWAY Fear Of Swimming By ERNA MORGAN McREYNOLDS • Special to www.AllOTEGO.com Swimming. I was a kid who wanted to learn to swim. It really started when I won a week at Bible camp by reciting enough verses. Just being there was scary enough. I was afraid to sleep in my bunk at night. Homesick. Had all of the wrong clothes. All of the other kids had fancy clothes. My bathing suit was the only…
BE AFRAID, BUT DO IT ANYWAY Burly, Tattooed Men – And Young Reporter By ERNA MORGAN McREYNOLDS • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com When I walked into that newsroom at The Dominion in Wellington, New Zealand I still had some hope that I might become a superstar journalist. I had landed a job at THE morning paper in the capital of New Zealand. I had never been in a big city newsroom. Reporters pounding their stories on manual typewriters made it noisy.…