The Longest Year

Lynn is a rock star in Almont. I realize, populationwise, that may not be saying so much (although in square miles we’re covering fair territory), but she is a carp in a sea of minnows nonetheless. On and off for the last 11-ish years she has been the lone postal clerk at the Almont Post […]

Summertime, and the Living Ain’t Easy

I wrote most of this during the dog days of summer, which the internet tells me has to do with Sirius, the dog star, aligning with the sun. At any rate, I wrote most of it in early August, when it was HOT, so hot that I never got around to finishing it. It’s still […]

Silent R, Part II

As you may have read, while I have been retired eight months, I’m adding to my workload and still not sorting boxes nor making social arrangements with the growing list of people I was sure I would see more frequently now that I’m not at Pat’s Screen Printing. But I did finally get to several […]

Silent R, Part I

Well, somehow it’s nearly a full eight months into my retirement, but I haven’t felt particularly retired or organized as I careen from this to that to the other in chaotic fashion — until this week, when I still did a lot of careening, but all of it for things I’ve not been able to […]

If the Shoe Fits . . .

Hi, I’m Marco, the would-be viceroy of Cuba, which I hope someday is the runway to the grand office of president of the United (which a typo just rendered as Untied, also appropriate) States, and this is what I am here to confess: I am so terrified of losing my extremely impressive job that I […]

99 Bottles (The Countdown Begins)

What is that song that goes on endlessly? No, not “The Twelve Days of Christmas” — the other one. The Beer on the Wall song that is funny only to middle schoolers on a bus with their poor, trapped driver and teachers/coaches. Well, right now I’m the one driving that bus, but I’m also the […]

Re-Tired

Well, so much for my plan of blogging if not every day at least on a semi-regular basis. So much for my plan of sorting 27 years of detritus (important only to me) in the month of November. So much for cleaning up the house. So much for . . . well, let’s just say […]

Convenient Update

I apologize — I’ve been slow to provide this update, which I’m sure you all have been anxiously awaiting. Every single repair person/service provider who has come to this now six-year-old house ends up saying the same thing to us: “I’ve never seen that before.” A light popped out of our ceiling at random one […]

Modern Inconveniences

I’ve watched a lot of documentaries on ancient civilizations, so I can tell you semi-authoritatively that the Nabateans, who built Petra (made famous by Indiana Jones) in the middle of the desert, had running water in their houses. I’m pretty sure I just read recently that some other civilization, perhaps the Indus River Valley inhabitants, […]

The Time Has Come

I was thinking you hadn’t heard from me in a year, and that was almost true, although apparently I posted once in May. So, half years. I hope to do better soon, although you’ve heard that before. (If anyone is still out there.) But I might mean it this time, as I put close to […]