I’m going to blame it on Sudoku. For some reason that I cannot understand two of my kids are obsessed with these puzzles. I look at all those numbers and instantly break out in hives. Not them however, my mystifying offspring vie for the daily Sudoku in our newspaper, cynically placed in the want ads just under ‘Pets’ … Wicked. So it happened that at breakfast while working out the days puzzle my son casually […]
The sky is gray, temperatures are hovering in the lower 30’s, icy drizzle comes and goes and not a snowflake in sight. This is not the deal I made with Spokane 9 years ago when we moved from the eternally damp bone chilling winters of the Washington coast to the Inland Northwest, the land of sunny skies and snowy white winters. Not this year, and not last year. Since the beginning of December I could […]
The acrid smell of diesel fuel stung my nose, jarring me awake. I was cold beyond shivering, bound in some kind of tight suit, confused and feeling nothing. I was numb, a block of stone covered in snow. Then I noticed the crystalline sky above the mounds of puffy clouds in shades of bluish gray. The stars were bright, beautiful and I sighed in relief. It was over. “If this is the end of my […]
Everything about the morning had been ordinary. As usual I was walking my dog Zoe down a well worn path through the woods when unexpectedly, on a small rise next to a sturdy ponderosa pines we were met with a gusty breeze. I stopped. It was as if Mickey Mouse, the sorcerer’s apprentice in Fantasia, his long sleeves falling down around him, frantically waving his master’s magic wand, was conjuring up a whirlwind of the […]
“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.” Charles M. Schulz I woke up and there she was at my bedside, my 80 pound genetic mash-up of a dog. Her round brown eyes reaching out, pleading for a morning adventure. “Get up, let’s go for a walk. There’s so much to smell from the night.” She, […]
The 8 am departure for our journey to my mom’s lake house in northern Wisconsin had passed. We finally pulled out of her suburban Chicago driveway hours later but just in time for an Egg McMuffin at the McDonald’s only a couple of blocks from her house. The muffin plus a hash brown patty were the very last cards I had available to play in order to persuade her to get in the car. I […]
William Parrish and Joe Black stood on the top of a hill watching the spectacular culmination of the extravagant birthday party. Fireworks filled the sky and illuminated their crisp white shirts sharply outlined by well tailored tuxes. A full orchestra filled the balmy summer night air with “What a Wonderful World.” The entire event was enchanting. A perfectly appointed party celebrating William’s 65 years. William turned toward Joe and asked, “Should I be afraid?” A […]
I have moved 18 times in my life. Some of those were fairly inconsequential, such as several from dorm to apartments in college years. Others were significant: leaving my large extended family firmly planted in the midwest to seek the forested Pacific Northwest and on to the high desert country of the Inland Northwest where I now live. Where, if I have my way, I will live to my end. Packing up and re-locating is […]
I spent a good part of a very hot June day on the back patio of our house cutting in paint around edges, doorframes, electrical boxes, natural gas and other various pipes and conduit housing all kinds of hoses and wires that make our household run. I moved and climbed up and down the ladders of different heights to get to all the angles. There was very little breeze. I was sweaty and it was […]
The year, 1805 … The vessel, The HMS Surprise, a 28 Gun British Frigate in her majesties royal navy with 197 souls on board … Location, rounding The Horn in a terrifying storm … The Captain, J. Aubrey, ‘Lucky Jack’… The mission, “Intercept French Privateer Acheron, (known to the crew as, ‘The Phantom’) en route to the Pacific intent on carrying the war (with Napoleon) into those waters … Sink, Burn, or take her a […]
The Spill... 