Long Ago in Rhode Island

We were poor kids, me and DC and Goomba. Life in the Pullman apartments of Providence was hell. One way out of the urban jungle was a trade, and we found one in Father Tom's School of Taxidermy.

The photo at left was taken by Father Tom in 1954. I'm on the left, with the little bobcat I found wandering in the neighborhood.

Next is Nickie, with the little bison he brought to ground with his yo-yo, on the fields of West Warwick.

On the far right is DC, in the felt hat handed down to him by his sister Iris C. DC put his little project together from animal parts he found at home.

The little girl grooming her Yellow Tabby project behind Nickie is Malicia Shumpski. Her parents were Henry Wallace socialists. Malicia went on to Amherst. Today she's an organizer for the Coalition On Minority Access To Opportunity and Social Equality (COMATOSE).

Life was different then। I don't think much about it anymore.






















Rhod, here's a little project I put together
as a Thanksgiving centerpiece for the kids.
Nickie