My Lifelong Childhood

"...IN THE SPRING A YOUNG MAN'S FANCY LIGHTLY TURNS TO THOUGHTS OF LOVE"   Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) With hindsight , I now appreciate that tenuous and tender connection between the youthful mind, hormonal influences, seasonal climate change and...romance.  I remember in Biology 103-104, studying a paper out of Yale by, no surprise here, a French researcher from Paris, on the photo-sexual reflex in waterfowl!  This explained the seasonal breeding habits of ducks and it resonated with me and made the connection with Lord Tennyson's words!  After a long and arduous North Country winter, my thoughts turned to romance. Spring comes to the campus!  On our college campus, as on many others of that day, there were dating rituals.  Having been a college physician, I am aware today of people "hooking up"on campuses, as well as the dangers that come with it with nonconsensual relations, Title IX charges and the "Me, too" movement.

"ON THE STAGE HE WAS NATURAL, SIMPLE, AFFECTING;  'TWAS ONLY THAT WHEN HE WAS OFF HE WAS ACTING"                                                    ______OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 As I've been writing about college days, I will pause for this post and share with you, my reader, my hidden passion, one that has never come to fruition but has its roots from my early formative years... Acting!   Please allow me this one diversion. Going way back to my early childhood to when my mother asked me to impersonate Al Jolson or sing "Be My Love" for company just like Mario Lanza did it, to starring in the first grade as Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer where I had my nose covered with, our teacher, Mrs. Camp's lipstick and prancing around the stage at Graham with four little girls behind me dressed as Santas, holding my reins...I have been a ham. There's something about getting up in front of an audience and being someone other than yourself.  The skill of