Pilgrim Spuds

My job today is to mash the potatoes. We are having a very quiet Thanksgiving, the first in our new house, but there’s no point in having any Thanksgiving at all if there aren’t mashed potatoes. I’m pretty sure that’s what brought the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag together that first year, potatoes smushed down and […]

Sock It To Me

I have a lot of socks. Not only do I have a lot of socks, I have a lot of different kinds of socks, most of which I’m not crazy about. My quest for the Perfect Sock is an on-going process, the trail marked by failure. Time was, I went into Target — any Target, […]

Amazon’ Weather

How on Earth, you are wondering, is he going to get from the weather to Amazon taking over the world? Well, stick with me and I’ll show you. It was snowing last night as Oz and I went out for his nighttime constitutional, which consisted of sniffing along a trail of footprints, perhaps hoof prints, […]

Moving, Possibly Shaking (Out)

Probably about the time Lynn and I purchased our lot here at Riverwalk, one of the then seven houses already built underwent a change of ownership. The new purchasers were a family of four, three of them unknown to me, the fourth someone I’ve been acquainted with most of her life. When we were young […]

Going to the Chapel

Matt texted me: “When did you get married?” Now, let’s not tell Lynn, but this was the exact question I had been asking myself just a couple of days before Matt wanted to know, and without putting a great deal of effort into it, I never came up with an answer. I mean, I know […]

The Hand We’re Dealt

You know what’s sad? It’s been so long since I’ve played Alien Hotshots that I can’t remember a thing about the card game. I can only tell you that 20 years ago it was part of my daily routine, and now I can’t remember a thing. I don’t, for instance, recall how the game arrived […]

This Mortal Coil

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil . . . –Shakespeare, Hamlet Mel Torpey, now retired, used to be a P.E. teacher and a gymnastics coach. Gymnastics was not a sport I understood, particularly — […]

To Market, To Market

One of the books I’ve saved for absolutely no good reason at all is my 1979 Writer’s Market. All right, I’ve saved lots of books (lots and lots) for absolutely no good reason at all, but this is a badly out-dated reference book in an era that eschews reference books even if they’re current. […]

On the ‘Post-Cusp’

Well, I missed it, so it might not be as significant as I thought: Nov. 11 was the anniversary of the day I posted my first blog entry. I launched the blog the day before, when WordPress thoughtfully provided my first entry for me (“The Journey Begins” with a picture selected from what I’m sure […]

The Truth is Out There

Awhile back I posted a discussion/diatribe/soliloquy about an article I read on being a better listener. I found a great place to put this to the test, and I’m afraid I may have failed. I do think that a truism may have emerged: it’s very hard to be a great, or even good, listener when […]