Dinner in the Field and other stories
I find you can discover your strengths at any age. For example, I find I’m a better writer than I am an editor. I have a full-length draft of a memoir that I’ve devoted countless hours to, and it’s finally finished. I’m anxious to move on to new material. But finishing the book is not the same as completing the project. Doing it right, I’m told, entails a less than...
My Brain was Interrupted
I don’t know how writers, particularly nonfiction writers trying to compose essays about real and perhaps current events, stick with a topic when a more pressing one emerges. I was in the middle of writing about my recent road trip through West Virginia, a short account about people I met and things I learned when I was completely interrupted by national news. Emotionally ripped away by the slaughter of fellow...
Cameron West Virginia
Cameron West Virginia was the town that most intrigued me. Aside from the city of Fairmount, it was the largest community I would drive through on Route 250, and it had a new school and an intriguing past. Coming from the north, I passed the new school in the woods perhaps a couple miles before entering the town. It’s a gleaming, spanking new middle/high school, built at a cost of...
West Virginia
I crossed the Ohio River and entered West Virginia on I-70 East, then took the Moundsville/South 250 exit. I’d been on Interstate highways since I turned onto I-80 in Ottawa. It was April 20, 2022. The road to Moundsville takes you down the Ohio River Valley and West Virginia Route 250 takes you up into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. When I took the South 250 exit and...
Zanesville Ohio
I don’t have anything against Indiana. It’s “The Gateway to the Midwest” according to their marketing campaign. At least it’s a descriptive phrase. Going fast with the trucks on I-70 I found when I crossed into Ohio their tagline is an imperative sentence. “Find it here.” Find what here? And what if I don’t care to find anything? I think states should go with the inviting sentence “Welcome to _______”...
Going for the Rare Do Over
Long life creates both obstacles and opportunities. If you happen to be old, the obstacles become increasingly apparent. Gradual loss of the senses, especially hearing and vision, even taste and feel, are hard to swallow. Even worse, newly discovered concepts replace old fears. That process of evolving fears that started when I dreaded the “boogie man” as a kid has never stopped. Now, at the age of 70, I consider...
A Trip to the City
My wife and I try to get to Chicago once a month to be with our kids and our new Granddaughter June. We’re doing that by booking Air B&B’s in neighborhoods close to them. We used to find deals on hotel rooms downtown but somehow the pandemic has changed that vibe. We drive to Joliet, take the Metra to LaSalle Street station, then an Uber to where we are staying. ...
Breakfast at the Hi-Way with MLK
I hadn’t gone out for breakfast after swimming laps in a long time. Pandemic you know. But the numbers were going down, and I threw caution to the wind. Who would have thought eating out was daring two years ago? I slid into the Hi-Way Restaurant and took a stool at the counter. I had imagined my order while swimming, and where I would sit. I love to be close...
Second Sunday Lunch
In the first half of every month, I do this thing for Open Table, my church. We cook a free lunch every second Sunday, and I’m the advance man. On Wednesday or Thursday of the week preceding that Sunday, I distribute flyers promoting the meal. Here’s the one I passed out yesterday. Dawn is cooking the meal this month. She’s been a member of our church for a long time...
Santa Visits the Shack
Despite the pandemic and the new Omicron blizzard that’s predicted, we got our family together for Christmas. I never imagined this holiday season year to be so fraught with uncertainty after two doses of vaccine and the boosters. We communicated often with our kids and relatives and vowed to all be as safe as possible in the run-up to the holiday. Everyone got a Covid test before coming to our...
Christmas 1995
My daughter Moe texted me the other day. “Hey Dad. Do you remember that outrageous over the top Christmas letter you sent out with the Christmas cards to the family when we were kids?” “Yes.” “What was up with that?” “I was tired of those braggy once a year letters about everyone’s accomplishments and thought I’d throw a little satire at the relatives.” “You think you can find it?” “Yeah. ...