I was nine or ten when my mom took me and my younger siblings downtown to a place to get some free food for poor people. Our dad was out of work for six weeks. My mother was humiliated. We waited in line until it was our turn. As the worker handed Mom her block… Continue reading Government Cheese and Pinto Beans
Category: memoir
My Favorite Oak Tree
I can’t stop my neighbors from making bad decisions, like three years ago when the neighbors kitty corner and below me cut down five large pine trees and changed my back yard forever. I lost a number of plants to the afternoon sun, plants that had established themselves in shade. My own small pine tree… Continue reading My Favorite Oak Tree
Daisy’s New Perch
(re-run) My suburban house is dumb. The small bedrooms are on the front of the house, with the family room tucked behind the garage. There are no good windows for Daisy to see out of, no couch to jump upon to watch the street. Until the day I cleaned my office. I ended up pushing… Continue reading Daisy’s New Perch
Mountain Lion
(re-run) The latest mountain lion attack got me to thinking about how we humans hike, bike, and enter into cougar country and should know what to do in the event that we run into one. The newspaper article today tells about the two mountain bikers in Washington this past weekend that encountered a mountain lion.… Continue reading Mountain Lion
The Story of my Rescue Puppy, Pepper
I laughed out loud. I had joked about a getting a pit bull, and the universe had dropped two of them in my path.
Do Nerds Laugh?
(re-run) Yesterday, at my bi-monthly massage at the chiropractor’s, Curtis the masseur asked me lots of questions to help the 55 minute session go by. I was chatting away as he rubbed the kinks out of my neck, shoulder and lower back, telling him this and that, until he came around to the big question,… Continue reading Do Nerds Laugh?
Asparagus, Anyone?
(re-run) The farmhouse was next to the highway, close enough for me to hear the train come by every night, and far enough away from the tracks to get used to sleeping through it. No houses could be seen from any window — just trees, sky, and lots of cornfields. It was a peaceful place,… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?
God and the Pandemic
My oldest child went to a Christian school for kindergarten. It was tied to the church that ran her preschool. She turned out to be the youngest one in the class, a full year younger than her carpool mate. They shared an October birthday. Let’s call that girl Shannon. Let’s call her mom Debbie. I’ll… Continue reading God and the Pandemic
Dance with Me, Young Jeremy
(re-run) Each dance bar in Omaha ended the night with its signature song. One bar closed with Last Dance by Donna Summer, another used Shout from the Blues Brothers movie (by the Isley Brothers) as its sign-off song. But my fave dance bar closed with the song New York, New York. It seemed an odd… Continue reading Dance with Me, Young Jeremy
Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
(re-run) It’s funny how memories of one thing lead to memories of other things happening in the same time period. Like the Twin Towers falling, or JFK getting assassinated. Or Elvis dying. Today is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Forty-two years ago, I was stepping off an airplane from Spain (by way of Morocco).… Continue reading Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 