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Zerrissenheit
I don’t want your help. Leave me alone. I’m fine. “The inability to receive support from others is a trauma response.” Make a picture in...
May 20, 20228 min read


Blessings Upon Blessings
On Tuesday, May 3rd, I returned from California after attending the wedding of Ashley and Michael. Ashley is the daughter of my dear...
May 5, 20223 min read


A Common Disaster
Everything in the world is shaking. I keep a steady hand on my trowel. This week, I am planting ramps in the woods. This same week,...
Apr 4, 20227 min read


Cold Friction
“Let me disclose the gifts reserved for age To set a crown upon your lifetime's effort. First, the cold friction of expiring sense...
Mar 7, 20229 min read


Christmas, Ohio - 1961
It’s Christmas Eve. I am 12 Years old. I have been a good boy this year. I am kneeling on the iron heating register and praying for my...
Jan 28, 20227 min read


Merci Marci
The world is not made of atoms, it is made of stories. There are stories we have heard or read, stories we tell ourselves, and stories we...
Dec 18, 20218 min read


Acedia
I don’t want to do this anymore. I am so done with this. How did I ever get to think this is what I was meant to do with my life? I am...
Nov 12, 20218 min read


The Twelfth of October
Five years have passed since Megan died. On the anniversary of her death, I weeded and mulched the trees in the back orchard as a way of...
Oct 12, 20213 min read


Red Bandana
Kevin wears a red bandana around his forehead. He sprinkles it with holy water. He wears it all the time, even while sleeping. Kevin is...
Jul 27, 20219 min read


Look At Me Now
Jerry handed me the shotgun. I had never killed anything before. Jerry stood off to the side with his two brothers, Ken and Steve. These...
Jul 7, 20212 min read


Sauntering With Phil
“I don't like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not 'hike!' Do you know the origin of that...
Jun 24, 20217 min read


Red Pearls
At this singular spot on the Sea of Japan, bright blue-white bubbles float one or two meters above the water. As the bubbles burst,...
Jun 16, 20214 min read


Twelve Rhetoricals and One Declarative
Twelve Rhetoricals and One Declarative. 1. If your parents are dead and your only sibling, who is approaching 250 pounds and lives...
May 29, 20217 min read


Streaming Gomorrah
I know where John lives. I have visited. I do not care to live there. John was a friend of mine but after running my monthly “My Friends”...
May 13, 202111 min read


Schadenfreude
Billy spits when he talks. All the time. This is annoying. What’s amazing is that Billy cannot read nor write. Billy works hard, almost...
May 1, 202112 min read


Baba
Baba is leaning over our backyard fence. We are talking tomatoes. Baba lives next door with her son Richard, his wife Mary, and their...
Apr 11, 20217 min read


And Then There Was Hugh
Hugh Creveling was my friend. I was Hugh’s friend. I have a host of friends (thank God) and a number of very good friends. Hugh seemed to...
Mar 31, 20216 min read


Cousin Barbara
After a recent post of mine, my cousin Barbara commented I should write more. “It’s a gift”, she said. Not realizing what she has done,...
Mar 21, 20217 min read


My Friend, Bob Carleton
My friend Bob Carleton has experienced that dramatic change of address that awaits us all. He died on February 25th. Bob and I were...
Mar 11, 20213 min read


New Year - 2021
The clocks have just chimed 12 indicating the last day of 2020. I have two such clocks and it’s important to me that they chime together. Why that is important is another story. What is important to me right now is that I get out of bed and write this little note to the Facebook breezes and so I can get back to sleep. When I was much younger, over 50 years ago, I was terrified not to have a date for New Year’s Eve. It would mean that I was unwanted and would have no one to k
Dec 31, 20203 min read
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