Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Sean Walsh's column "Musings from the Mills" appears only here on Patch.com. Questions? Ideas? Email him at swalsh2008@aol.com.
These families will be reminded of this every Christmas for the rest of their lives. That's all I could think about as I drove home from school last Friday afternoon, the sun setting to the west as I weaved down Route 149 toward the Fairgrounds. I wasn't entirely sure what the depth of the news was. It hit me almost worse than the news of 9-11, only this time it struck a deeper nerve, a chord I'd never felt. The news and talk on the Cape radio had me simultaneously riveted and revolted. My eyes watered up. This was truly horrifying. I felt devoid of Christmas cheer. Almost to the point of being desensitized to such news over the past decade, this time it hit home. These were someone's children. It just made no sense, not even a shred of …
Monday, December 3, 2012
In one of the best seasons ever recorded in Barnstable High School's 120-year-old football program, many milestones were reached, many records set and many hearts uplifted by a stellar team performance that mended a collective football "heart."
Let's be honest, here. Prior to Chris Whidden taking over the reins of the Barnstable High School football program, something had faded away from a football program steeped in pride, deep history and the very fabric that had helped build the Red Raider athletics program. It seemed, to be frank, that Barnstable's heart had been broken a few years back. Many feelings and egos had been stepped on. Relationships were tested and some sheared in two. The indivisibility of the communal sense of togetherness and pride that had been well over 100 years in the making, seemed to have been, well, divided. And while Coach Whidden's presence and leadership had become a welcome breath of fresh air, while his invaluable, bright and loyal coaching staff …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Sean Walsh's column "Musings from the Mills" appears here only on the Barnstable-Hyannis Patch.com. He may be reached at swalsh2008@aol.com.
Bill Press, a radio talk-show host on CurrentTV stated Tuesday he is on a "crusade" to abolish the National Anthem, calling it "embarrassing," "stupid" and "unsingable." Because it's inherently American to be able to speak freely about such things, good for him. But he's dead wrong. Press (is that even his real name?) went as far to say that the National Anthem - or in more common lingo, the Star Spangled Banner - is loaded with militaristic "jargon" and that the song implies Americans think they are the only people who are "brave" in the world. I can think of about 15 dozen ancestors who would be exceptionally upset by that statement alone. Sure, people say upsetting things all the time. It's just as American to say something disagreeable…
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Since 1949, Arnold Mycock has been the mainstay of the world-renowned Cape Cod Baseball League and its 15-time champion Cotuit Kettleers, and today the franchise he built on Lowell Avenue will honor him by naming its press box facility after him.
Following his service in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps, Arnold Mycock made his way to the cozy little village from his hometown Somerset and immediately became involved with a baseball team. The year was 1949 and that baseball team was - and still is - the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. I feel fortunate to count him as a dear friend and he was the first person I ever met on Cape Cod and our meeting -- and mutual love of the game of baseball -- was pure coincidence. Or was it? My wife and I moved to Hyannisport from the Bronx two weeks before Hurricane Bob ripped across the Cape. Uprooted trees and 30-foot sailboats were scattered across the Hyannisport streets like matchsticks. The power was off for days. I …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sean Walsh's column "Musings from the Mills" appears here on Patch.com weekly and occasionally he writes for the Babylon, New York Patch.com.
I still remember the days when absolutely no one wore a seatbelt and we would jump around the car constantly as mom drove all around town, to the store or to school or to wherever. I would have lost my mind entirely if not for car seats for our kids. I cannot believe my mother kept her sanity. Not least of when I decided at about age four to slowly but surely open the car door as she sped down the highway. Yes, the highway. No seatbelt, the pavement blurring by my eyes like lightning in a flash of memory and that tiny little foot reaching out to see what it would be like to jump and run from a moving car at 65 miles per hour and in that same lightning flash moment more than 40 years ago, her ever-present hand reaching over and grabbing …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Maybe not everyone, but surely many of us feel the pull... the wish for summer heat.
As I briefly but longingly stare at my pathetic, patchy lawn, I pull on another sweatshirt or two and then step out into what feels like a perpetual, late October. Yes, the birds are chirping and hopping from limb to limb among the oak and holly trees, but I just can't seem to escape that constant Cape Cod breeze billowing down the back of my neck. It's that time of year again when my yearning for 80-degree days and clear blue skies turns to silent desperation. I honestly doubt whether spring will ever arrive, or if, as is usual, Mother Nature will simply flip its metaphorical switch and suddenly we will all be immersed in humidity better reserved for the climate of Maryland. Chirping, singing birds aside, there is no real spring on Cape …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Reality television has been about as low-brow a form of entertainment as the American public has ever witnessed - until such shows began preying upon people's naivete or desperate need for cash. Can it get much lower than it is today?
Americans are being ripped off every week, history is being desecrated and they're being fleeced right on national television. In fact, shows like American Pickers and American Digger starring former pro wrestler Rick Savage are some of the top-rated shows in the country. I must confess one night dropping everything I was working on to join my sons who were watching back-to-back episodes of Storage Wars where people's personal possessions are auctioned off to the highest bidder after storage unit rentals have been defaulted on. Fascinating? Yes. Ethical? I'm not so sure. With shows like Storage Wars and Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn - the latter two shows' titles a play on the use of the word "porn" - what are we really seeing? Are we …
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Society today is clutching to every last bit of hope that better times are on the near horizon, but if we want a sign of just how depleted the American spirit has become, then one need look no further than our classrooms.
Being a teenager in many ways has changed dramatically in the last quarter century. In some ways it's inherently still the same. High school kids still look forward to the prom and football games on crisp October nights. They're still worried about looking or being "cool." They still hold hands in the hallways with that "first" serious boy or girlfriend. They still fill cafeterias at lunch time with the same bubble and verve of yesteryear. Most still aspire to go to college. It's just that the differences have become so frighteningly extreme. A local high school here on Cape Cod recently held an Open House night for parents to come in and learn of their teenager's progress, projects, and meet the teachers who we entrust to mold tomorrow's …
Sunday, April 8, 2012
In the end would life be easier is kids played ball with wooden bats? Is technology changing who we are?
Technology is deluding us into believing our lives are easier. Microwave ovens. Mac Books. IPods and IPhones. GPS devices. Remote-controlled robotic killing machines. Automobile engines so crisscrossed with wires and high-tech plastic that one can barely change the oil of their own car anymore. Email. Massive, hulking flat screen, high definition television sets hammering the mind's eye with rapid-fire images of inappropriately dressed men and women demeaned not only by their attire, but the worldwide display of their complete lack of intelligence each time "words" spill from their mouths. Honestly, television wasn't that great to begin with. Has "Reality TV" made television programs more compelling to watch? Are the Kardashians and the …
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Everyone who owns a car inevitably has car trouble, but having the acumen or time to deal with it has changed dramatically over the last 25 years.
I made my uncle an offer he could not refuse: $250 for his 1972 Chevrolet C/20 pick-up truck with 290,000 miles on it. We shook hands. The deal was done. The key to success, for me, was getting my "new" car from his farm in upstate New York, and making sure it made it the 425 miles to my parents' driveway. I took an 11-hour bus ride to get there and I am certain that I still could not have done it without my mother's help. As "mature" as I may have fancied myself at age 16, I wasn't even remotely prepared for the intense anxiety of driving a piece of junk for eight hours and in all types of traffic. But I'm glad she didn't hesitate to let me make this trip. The truck had no radio. No heat. Holes rusted through the floorboard in the cab. …
RON BEATY
8:55 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
...just to start things off, I found this article helpful after learning about the Newtown, CT tragedy. RB "Moving from A Culture of Revenge To A Culture of Forgiveness" - http://www.preacherexchange.com/moving_from_a_culture_of_revenge_to_a_culture_of_forgiveness.htm more ›