A few months ago life presented us with a rare opportunity. My aunt was moving to a smaller place and couldn’t keep all of her furniture. We got a call, asking us if we wanted it – otherwise she would have to sell it or give it away. Normally Cheryl would answer a question like this with an unqualified and unequivocal: “No, we’ve already got too much stuff.”
It became…
I’ve got a post I’ve been working on for a couple days now, off and on (doing a lot of thumb typing on the phone in my spare moments). There’s a picture I wanted to include in the post, but I thought it was lost. It’s a favorite of mine, taken back in the dark ages when people used something called “film” which you then had “developed,” giving you…
People never get used to the unexpected.
At the height of the terrorism scare of the early twenty-first century, uncertainty was the only constant. Governments raised alarms on anniversaries and holidays, only to find the biggest threat was sowing complacency. They fortified airports, so terroists turned to subways and buses.
Fearing “weapons of mass destruction,” security efforts…
This is my first attempt at fiction since the mid-1980s… unless you count exaggeration. What the heck. I thought I’d try something different.
—
No.
His eyes were closed. He was shaking his head, willing disbelief, and not succeeding.
Please God, no.
Another book was missing from his shelf.
He never knew for sure when it happened first.
Jack was looking for one of his favorite…
Clearly, I do not.
I arrived in Tallahassee Friday night with all of the essentials: my computer, phone, and their cables. However, I did not have the little things; like a brush, toothbrush, or deodorant.
A sticker on the mirror at the hotel reassured, “Forget anything? Ask for it at the front desk.” So I asked. I can follow instructions. I didn’t think the answer would be…
I have a plan. Do you have any idea how odd those words sound in my head, coming from my mouth? Thanks to a gentle nudge from Cheryl, I’m going to try to exorcise a pinch of guilt this Friday by making the long drive up to Chattahoochee to see my mom.
Let it be known: this doesn’t make me a good son. A good son wouldn’t suffer from mixed feelings. Don’t get me wrong…
Among the likes of the wheel, the steam engine, integrated circuits, the moon landings, and the polyester cotton blend, one of humanity’s greatest (if overlooked) achievements is the Koosh Woosh.
In the late 1980s, a small toy company made a bundle selling funny little balls made of strands of rubber. Maybe you never had one. Maybe your parents didn’t love you. We had several –…
There are some lines I won’t cross on this blog.
Don’t you laugh. I’ll find you.
I’m not going to elaborate, not that it’ll be necessary. I think your imagination will fill in capably.
I’ve decided not to save money on toilet paper anymore.
I say that now, but just you wait. A few years from now I’ll be reposting this entry, complaining about how rough it…
I think paternal instinct is underrated. Mothers are given credit for “the bond” and knowing instinctually when their kids are in trouble, while fathers are relegated to second class parenthood.
I know, I know. Fathers miss out on gestation and the birthing experience, but I’d put my ear for trouble up against any mother’s.
Now Cheryl might say the ear is only effective…
I’m not sure how I feel about it, but the hospital is making tentative plans to discharge my mother. This should be good news, right? The thing is, she’s not being released to go home – she’s not well enough. Instead, they’re making arrangements for her to be placed in an assisted living facility.
If my life had a soundtrack, something foreboding would be playing…