Retired Navy after 23 years. I retired at the age of 40 years old. I've been out longer than I was in. All of the ships I served on have been made into razor blades. I had fun and I lived my life the best I could. Most of my shipmates are gone and I try to stay in touch with the remainder. It continues. Substance abuse counselor, builder of wooden boats, furniture maker, prison non-violence workshop facilitator, life observer, activist, reader, writer, geriatric subject of interest, generous tipper. I stay involved.
I’ve been doing a repair of The Castle and one of my tools is an old hammer that I inherited from my father. I know it had been in his possession for a long time before I got it so you can imagine its age. I wrote the story of its significance below. The story … More Belated Gift
ME, MYSELF, AND I The back of The Castle has shown rot in a floor joist that is next to the sheathing. Rain water has infiltrated the skin of the structure and since it is the shady, or northeast facing wall the microbes have been having at it for some time. This year I wanted … More Getting Along With Me, Myself, and I
Billie Urabazo is a friend of mine who lives south and east of Albuquerque. She wrote “Simply Said” and “Skimming the Surface”, two books of experience and thought in poetry and short essay. I met her in Albuquerque in January 2013 during my first winter cross country trip. I’ve done three trips and I have not … More Billie’s Good Idea
THE 4TH OF JULY (fucking yay) It is the fourth and it is after dark, after nine P.M. I sit and listen to explosions from the Harbor and the noise reverberates around the hills and up the rivers and off the islands and boats filled with glassy-eyed people taking it all in. What is the … More The 4th of July
One of my best friends from my Navy days, from my drunken troubled Navy days, Bob Zwiener passed away from lung cancer three and a half years ago. Even though I spoke with him prior to his death and he had told me that he had lung cancer I never thought he could die. Bob … More Blood and Guts Bob Zwiener, USMC
During the 1970’s I read Eric Berne’s “The Games People Play”. I was in my 30’s and unhappy in a good marriage. I was a pure game player of the destructive kind; part of my conditioning I suppose. I don’t believe I had a fully uncomplicated thought after the age of 4 or 5. Anyway, … More The Games People Play
This song always, always takes me back to 1983 when I lived on Beacon Hill. I had a small studio on the 4th floor. My windows faced into the back of other apartments. I could see so much from up there. There was a gay guy who played this for about a week and he … More Gloria
I came here to write about love; the love I find in women. The love is easy to come by and I need to reflect on it and write about it while I can. In the meantime I came across a reminder that tomorrow is Fathers Day. Fathers Day sends me into a depression intertwined … More Distraction and Prisons (U.S. Prisons that is)
We’ve had a mix of cool, dry, warm, wet weather which has favored those with gardens. I have gardens and I have enjoyed all of it. With the changes in weather I have been doing a little more writing about my youth and this short essay is a memory from around 1952. It is true … More Rain on Leather
LAWN I’m not fussy about grass in my yard. If it’s green and I mow it, it’s lawn. This afternoon I sat in my faux Adirondack chair and rested my eyes on the scrub and small trees standing by the edge of my property. The yard looked good from a recent rain shower and a mowing. … More Lawns
Playing Fair and Being Kind 