Good Health. You’re Welcome.
Life can be hard for non-smokers who don’t have the tasks and belongings of smokers to keep their hands busy. Instead must find ways to deal with our hands, to … Continue reading
Wednesday Strategy Session
Some people have a great dream and don’t accomplish it. Still others have no dreams and likewise don’t accomplish them. –Fernando Pessoa. The Book of Disquiet (immortalized in Lisbon graffiti)
The Ideal
The young mother held her daughter’s hand as the tiny girl leapt off the curb, hustled ahead, then slowed down–her mother’s arm was a satisfactory tether. The open-air shopping center … Continue reading
Dreaming Unfinished Stories (Vienna Edition)
There were so many stories to write about that Miss Willerton never could think of one. That was always the hardest part of writing a story, she always said. She … Continue reading
Visas and Patience
He took the window seat and buckled himself in. His adult daughter shuffled belongings around the overhead compartment and gave commentary on her discomfort. He nodded at her words, not … Continue reading
Lawn Pilot
Still only one-third of the way through his job–navigating a riding lawnmower over two acres in front of the Lutheran church–he delighted in shredding each swath. He chose a bright … Continue reading
I’m Thinking Lovely
She parks in the first spot outside Arby’s, and he waits patiently in the passenger side, readying his oxygen tank as she comes slowly around the long Buick. She wrestles … Continue reading
Skip the Map
If you find yourself asking: How did I get here? Isador once said, that probably means you are living a life worth living. –Aleksandar Hemon. The Lazarus Project (yes, AGAIN. … Continue reading
Spring Training
The humidity hasn’t kicked in yet. So the parks are packed with people: joggers, parents with strollers, cyclists, pet owners, families having picnics. At the site of one such picnic, … Continue reading
Night Game
After dinner the small boy stood at the far side of the lawn with his back to the street. He focused on a point in front of him, waiting for … Continue reading
Locally Owned and Operated
In the tire shop: “Well, it’s a good car, you know, I do enjoy driving it.” The men chitchat, standing and pacing between the displays: cut-outs of the Michelin man, … Continue reading
Neighborly
The eleven year old girl on the bus moves over to sit in front of her mother. This way she is now in the row across the aisle from me, … Continue reading
Double Date
The couple ducks into the restaurant–the doorways give them plenty of clearance, but they bow anyway. The host shows them to a table and the woman takes the chair facing … Continue reading
On The Move
Whenever he was en route from one place to another, he was able to look at his life with a little more objectivity than usual. -Paul Bowles. The Sheltering Sky … Continue reading
The Meek Tourist
My landlord got his boat engine going and ran it, revved it, for a nice long time. This sound, and my rumbling stomach, pushed back against my travel anxiety and … Continue reading
Spring Resolutions
Meanwhile nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring. –Vladimir Nabokov. Mary. Photos from an Istanbul spring to inspire further restlessness. Are you … Continue reading
They Were Too Shiny Anyway
Outside Target, mothers previewed for their toddlers and pre-schoolers the agenda for the shopping trip. The children who were old enough replied, asked questions, such as: “But where are we … Continue reading
To Pass the Time
Among the many reasons I like Croatian bus drivers is that they will carry on conversations with you knowing full well you don’t speak the language. A test of your … Continue reading
Slow and Steady
At the rest area in Sutherland, Nebraska, he exits the driver’s side of his old Ford truck, takes off his hat, and brushes back his final grey strands. He crosses … Continue reading
The Smartphone Slaughter of Small Talk
This was a job for the large round table in the sportsbar. The Grandmother seated herself between the mother-type woman and her pretty granddaughter, whose smooth face was turned down … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 