I was worried about him. He had been absent from his usual perch. And then one day I spotted him there. He was wounded: a juicy gash torn into his ribs. He looked frail and withered. So we made a point to have water nearby, and although he was often nowhere to be seen, he […]
Yearly Archives: 2016
Squint Your Eyes
Sat, 2 Jul 2016, 02:47 PM (-06:00)
Screw up your face. Squint your eyes. Squeeze ‘em tight. The sky is still blue. The sun is still bright. The water is clear. And the falls are still white. This is a mighty fine thing to see, a perfect place to be on a hot summer’s day. What more can be said?
Barton Creek Greenbelt
Sat, 2 Jul 2016, 01:52 PM (-06:00)
Old Man Sycamore stands with his toes in the clear/greenish water of Barton Creek. Beat up by the springtime floods, little of his crown remaining, he pushes up new sprouts from the base of his trunk, an eternal optimist — what are his alternatives, after all? A bright red Cardinal whispers words of encouragement in […]
In The Drug Store Parking Lot
Fri, 1 Jul 2016, 10:13 AM (-06:00)
There was a shady spot at the far end of the Walgreen’s parking lot. After dropping Trudy off at the door, I drove across the lot and backed into the shade. I turned off the car, rolled down the windows on and turned on the radio. A man was walking in the sun across the […]
Finally Happy Birthday
Mon, 27 Jun 2016, 08:18 PM (-06:00)
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 […]
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 […]