CAR THIEF WISDOM California divides north and south roughly at Santa Barbara. California could be six states today according to some wags but when I was living in 1970s San Diego most people divided it simply into “Northern” and “Southern”. Both halves are gloriously beautiful in their own style. I’ve traveled extensively through the two … More Car Thief Wisdom
MAKING PICALLILI WITH MAGDALENA AND NINA Today was a fun day at The Castle. I’ve been planning on stripping the tomato vines of all the green fruit that will not ripen before a frost gets them. I’m geared up to make piccalilli. I shopped last week and brought home red bell peppers and an onion. … More Cooking and Playing with Magdalena and Nina
New Mexico sanctions the placement of crosses along public highways. The crosses mark the locations along the road where loved ones have died, usually as the result of a traffic mishap. The crosses are typically decorated with plastic flowers or other memorabilia. Crosses placed for children have stuffed toys. The sites marking the placements are … More Roadside Crosses
NOW AND FOREVER MORE AMEN I sit in my big soft chairGazing above the false horizonSet by the trees and shrubs growingOutside my window. I pick a spot on the blueOf the sky and I loseMyself in the beautyAnd peace of it all. A breeze moves the leavesAnd gently sways theBranches in my field ofVision. … More Some Basic Truths Which Make This Post Timeless
I have been doing a lot of primary research online and some of it includes looking up word meanings and pronunciation. I have become something of a word-smith. There are words that I never fully understood the derivation of. It has been fun as well as edifying. Here is a story that goes into one … More Temp Worker; a New Job Title for Me
POLITE COMPANY Francis regretted opening his mind to Gary. He regretted confessing a minor indiscretion. Gary was a new friend and Francis had needed to talk to someone. He needed to talk about a situation he was navigating with Ellen his wife of forty years. Francis and Ellen were still living in the same house … More Polite Company (encore from 2015)
FECUNDITY 2 How many like me are cautiously and silently alone,Cruising the garden to choose, sometimes wisely,Often without thought of consequences,A place to plant a seed in the earth.The warm, dark, waiting, ready earth. The act of clearing away the dressing of winter compostAnd touching with fingers the top soilBrings deeper feeling.A simple and soft … More Fecundity! 1st Draft
IT’S ALL RELATIVE, CLARICE Clarice sat in her car waiting for the bloated, urgent feeling to subside. Or rather she sat and hoped it would. She had been driving for hours, nibbling on nuts and chips and sipping water from a travel cup. The nuts and chips and water had no place but further to … More It’s All Relative, Clarice (Encore Post From 6-6-2016)
One of my dearest friends from the early days of my attempt to get sober in AA was a wise older woman named Mary. She was my best friend for a few years before I left for the East Coast and then we lost touch. She was sober for 15 years when I first met … More J & B. It whispers
WHISPERS It comes to me like breaking news. The ancient ‘aha’ moment visited upon people forever clarifies for just a brief moment while I’m watching a documentary on trees. I hear and see on the screen the chemicals, the chemicals that cure or prevent cancer, the chemistry that provides anti-bodies for life and survival. I … More Whispers
Playing Fair and Being Kind 