John Grindrod: Masks, once upon a time and now
By John Grindrod - Guest Columnist
Now that we’ve been living with masks for more than a year now, I’ve some mask-related thoughts for you this week.
As a boy, unlike the aversion I’ve developed over the past 12 months for them, I loved masks. Of course, those I remember were far different than the ones we’ve been wearing since mid-March of 2020.
The masks from my growing-up years in the late 1950s and early ‘60s were worn by those I admired so very much, like The Lone Ranger. To refresh your memory as to his back story, he was the lone surviving Texas Ranger after an ambush killed five of his fellow law enforcers. Badly injured, the Ranger, John Reid, was nursed back to health by a Native American who stumbled upon the gory ambush aftermath. Reid fashioned a black mask and, together with Tonto, began riding throughout the West fighting for righteousness and capturing all sorts of evildoers while searching for those cutthro
John Grindrod: Pandemic times and travel, long time between visits
By John Grindrod - Guest Columnist
When it comes to travel, it’s rather difficult to convince my favorite co-pilot, Lady Jane, to return to a place we’ve already checked off the list of trips always in the developmental stages somewhere just above her pretty blue eyes. Now, she will occasionally make an exception, especially if the trip is European in nature or, domestically, if it involves that alluring combination of autumn and New England.
However, during our pandemic times, when so many remain pretty much tethered to their domiciles, I told her I’d found a very friendly condo price, thanks to my friends Gene and Sharon Reaman, for the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Hilton Head’s Sea Pines. And, despite the fact that we’d availed ourselves of the special charms of the South Carolina Low Country before three times, she was all in. And, so was I, despite my having been to Hilton Head several
Good luck buying udies at a mall
John Grindrod Guest columnist
During my daily check-ins by phone and text with Lady Jane, so that she’s fully aware of the shenanigans in which I’m involved, recently I texted her my intention to go to the mall to buy a pair of outer shorts and pack of undershorts. While surely not urgent news, I do tend to share such banalities for reasons I can’t quite explain.
At any rate, in her return text, she said something both brief and humorous, as in, “Good luck.” However, after I got done chuckling, I realized when it comes to buying clothing, especially unementionables, guys really do need some luck.
In a life where much of my driving is work-related, I always embrace my more relaxing driving moments, especially my Saturday drives to Mercer County to se
AN AUTHOR S search to find the UK s best post-war new town has led to a nail-biting finale, with Cwmbran among the last two competitors standing. Designated as a new town in 1949, Cwmbran is facing off against Shropshire new town Telford for the crown. The light-hearted contest was devised by author John Grindrod, who has written on the subject of new towns previously in his book
Concretopia: A Journey around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain. The competition, taking place on Twitter, has seen Cwmbran win votes against opponents including Stevenage, Northampton, Warrington, and Harlow. The final poll, pitting Cwmbran against Telford, closes this evening.