THE SHAG BAG

Mr. Gould has left his cracker-barrel originals in the Maine woods while here he ruminates mostly about himself and his own doings. There are the usual childhood recalls and runoffs from some modern irritations, with old times, predictably, seeming a little better. Among the dear departed: Palmer Method and a parade of pen wipers; ""conveniences"" once under the bed, now over the counter for thrilled antique hunters; some delightful animals, including General Sherman's horse, of mythic and disputed pasturage. And a passel of current nuisances that rile a person: bouts with telephones, government agencies, and supermarket check-outs. But Gould retains his up-country vantage point where his ""approach to freshening up calls for sitting on the kitchen rocker for twenty minutes while I pant."" For his following who didn't catch these in The Christian Science Monitor, a new run o' shad.