Snow and silence came to the backyard overnight. With my mug of coffee, I sat on the stoop, listening to it for a few minutes before I put on the music. The silence here is friendly, but I remember when silence was scary. It still can be, depending, but not lately. What about the quiet…
Category: Home Posts
If You Don’t have to Carry it, Time Flies
The new tenant wanted to move in, and I’d already run through my short list of friends who might be willing to lift things and clear the place out. The carcass of the grandfather clock—currently hollow, a pile of plastic storage boxes, an ice cream table and chairs from the turn of the century when…
You Do You
There are benefits and downfalls to reading every comment. Email, that’s different. Many social media professionals advise me to avoid reading comments; I can’t do that. I also read all of my emails, which makes me one of a tiny percentage of people who don’t delete things immediately. As expected, I got a nasty message…
Better Because of It
When I drive, hundreds of ideas course through my mind. I sometimes wish I could hear them recombobulated in the voice of a posh Englishman. It would be more entertaining than silently selecting, catching, and then holding the gems because I bet I miss a lot of great ones. My best writing occurs far from…
The Dog
I receive many notes about Ellie. “Does she like the new place?’“Is Ellie comfortable?”“What does Ellie think?” I can only answer those questions like any man with a dog; I don’t know. Dogs, including Ellie, are like side dishes to life. They are not appetizers but more like potatoes or noodles—always on the table. Don’t…
“Soup’s On!”
“Soup’s on,” my grandfather said from time to time. The tin, saltine can, shouted out from the center of the table with the word “premium” in big blue letters. I hear the slight woosh from a minor vacuum release created when Gramps pried the top off the rectangular canister and pulled from within a wax…
General Practitioner
The furnace’s whir and thunderous whomp sometimes wake me up, but not often. That’s the burner kicking in. I don’t have quick access to a thermometer giving me outside readings, but I know when it’s cold overnight from the number of whirs and whomps per hour. Yes, I wake up a few times regardless, but…
Have Cake, Will Travel
Two hundred sixty miles for cake, but it was a really good cake. Discombobulated is my life, mostly shot from the hip on a handheld camera without film. It would be expensive to find someone to edit it to make it understandable to a normal person. So, I strive on, unedited, feeling secure that a…
Dodging the Stones, Throwing None
With an eye toward light adventure, our trek through life is better shod with something sturdy. Boots? Sure. Good solid toe protection is key. A stout, resilient coat, unimpeded by excessive outer clinging gadgetry that catches on the branches that drag against us and slow us down, is also imperative. But you also need to…
Happy Old Year
None of us can predict our future, but we already know what we’ve done up to this point. Do not discount the benefits of repairing previous damage. Sometimes, repairs are better—stronger— than the original bodywork.