I know. I know I drew you a card. And I know I got you presents. Although it will come as no surprise to you that I don’t remember the presents I gave. But now, after a too-long delay, I can give you the present I intended. The result of a long-in-coming collaboration between your […]
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Mentors
Wed, 22 Jun 2016, 10:36 PM (-06:00)
1. Kevin Kivisto When I started working at McDonald’s, they assigned me to the Multimixer making milkshakes. Back then, you made a shake by sliding a cup with frozen mix up onto a spindle and letting it spin, making a little whirlpool as the chocolate or strawberry or vanilla syrup spiraled in and mixed with […]
Kayaking on the Lake
Sun, 19 Jun 2016, 10:27 PM (-06:00)
“???” Ben texted me this morning. He had been expecting to hear from me but hadn’t. “I haven’t heard from Santosh, yet,” I texted back. Santosh is half a world away from his family today on (our) Father’s Day, and I had offered that perhaps he should join us in our plans. But it turned […]
Watch Out
Wed, 15 Jun 2016, 09:25 PM (-06:00)
Trudy! I wrote on a piece of paper. Watch out for the spider, Trudy. And I taped the paper to a lawn chair. And I set the lawn chair in the walkway to our front door, blocking the path. Because there, in that space between the eaves of the roof, a spider had set up shop. […]
Missing
Mon, 13 Jun 2016, 09:10 PM (-06:00)
1. An Unfortunate Discovery “Hi David,” Marcia said. I handed her my salad, which she put on the scale. “That’ll be $7.29,” she said. I looked up at her in a brief panic, “My Discover card is missing.” “Oh no,” she said. “It’s ok. I have another card.” I pulled out the other card and […]
Writing on the Wall
Sat, 11 Jun 2016, 08:17 PM (-06:00)
We were going back to work from a lunch of hamburgers and fries. I was telling a story of someone I once knew who had abruptly quit his job and gone to work somewhere else. The economy had been bad. There were funding problems. And eventually other people started leaving, too. “He must have seen […]
On Lake Walter E. Long
Mon, 6 Jun 2016, 08:00 PM (-06:00)
After some grueling paddling into fierce winds, we finally found calm waters in the lea of the trees and cattails lining the northern and western shores of Lake Walter E. Long. Kyle and Ry were in a new red canoe. Izzy and I were in our new red kayak. (The colors were coordinated almost perfectly.) […]
Filipe
Mon, 6 Jun 2016, 07:29 PM (-06:00)
While we waited for our enchiladas and chalupas to arrive, the waiter across the room caught my attention. His face was familiar. I leaned toward Trudy. “I think that guy used to work at El Patio,” I said. She looked at him and smiled. Let’s just say that my reputation does not include great facilities […]
A Work of Art?
Mon, 6 Jun 2016, 01:08 AM (-06:00)
“Have you seen my table?” Trudy shouted across the street? She was eager to show off her husband’s (rare) handiwork. Bill walked over and stood in the shade of the Lacy Oak. “Wow… He’s… he’s…” Then was silent, holding his chin and looking down at the ground. “He’s what?” Trudy asked. I cringed at what […]
Mohammed Ali, RIP
Sat, 4 Jun 2016, 12:38 PM (-06:00)
I was in middle school. All the cool kids sang all the commercials on television. They argued with some authority about who was best, The Beatles or The Stones. And the boys passionately debated who was going to win the fight. I sat quietly on the sidelines during these discussions, never having heard of the […]