Your place in my life is so hard scrabble. Not even that, it's just plain mean

In 1993, on a day not unlike today, cold, clear and sunny, I drove down to company mandated three day leadership conference. The conference was held in an aging heavy locomotive assembly plant. Drove through a white oak lined driveway…

Yesterday, I bought a new stove-top percolator coffee maker. It’s at least my fourth one. I already have a drip, a pour-over, a fancy stainless-steel French press, and several Bialetti percolators in different sizes. These last ones are aluminum made,…

The past and the present run into each other. The trail intersects and winds around. But it is always there. The trees in the woods sway in the afternoon bridge, the Douglas Firs and the big-leaf maple trees. The trees…

Today wasn't one of my best days. It mostly involved taking care of business. Making sure a lost check reached the HOA. Getting Bear's three page lab results from the vet. Returning due books back to the library and the…

What Comes Next In five years, I probably won’t be alive. I’m 73 and I’ve already outlived all the men in my family by 10 years. What should I do with that realization? Thank god, I’m not stressed out about…

I am doing a writing class this week with Rachel Howard about Point of View. So my writing will likely be focused on those assignments rather than the prompts. This one is an experiment playing with POV zooming in and…

I am torn. I am somewhat, no more than somewhat, inspired to write a piece that is bubbling, no geiser-ing up for another venue. I am struck. I could easily write that piece right here. But I won’t. And this…

NOTE: These are from the POV of two characters I'm working with. They may mention parts of their stories that you are not familiar with. Alaina: I desire safety. I desire never to see Nicolai again. I desire security--which follows…

The news came in such a fragmentary way that by the time I found out what had happened it felt old and too overlaid by the memories of place it brought up for me. I couldn’t grasp what had occurred…

It would be easy to say that I was wounded long ago. But the wounds are here now. I t would be easy to say that I am just making a visit to an amusement park to visit what we…