I played poker with my Jackson crew last week. Tom hosted. It’s the first time I’ve seen him this summer. When Covid hit we didn’t play for several months. When we did begin, we cut way back on snacks and drinks. We went from elaborate meals to individual bags of chips and drinks. We’ve gradually …
The Single Man
I fancy myself a bit of a romantic. I used to write poetry. I didn’t write a lot of poems, but enough to give the medium a shot. They were simple because that’s how I chose to write. I still do. I stopped writing poetry after I got married. It’s not that I didn’t have …
Morning Pages
I’ve written before about a group I joined in Florida last winter. It’s called Singles New Beginnings, and it’s made up of single people. Men and women looking for a change. That’s why I joined the group. We have a book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It serves as our text. The normal routine …
At That Exact Moment
Dirk lived down the street from “breakfast” David. He was a part of the poker group for several years. He had two sons, twins, Jason and Jeff. Jason hung out at our house for most of his high school years. He looked upon my David as an older brother, liked Michael and had a crush …
Last Wednesday Evening
Last Wednesday evening I spoke with Elizabeth on the phone. She had lots to share. Sutton has a new album with a big rollout planned in September, they’re going to Greece and Italy for Sutton’s birthday next month, they have extensive plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but perhaps the most exciting news is her new …
Carpe Diem
I met Roger Dixon while teaching for the Plainwell Community Schools. I started in the fall of 1969. Roger taught in the high school, and I taught in the middle school. His wife, Carolyn, taught with Ruth and me. I don’t think we were together for more than a year, or two, when Roger took …
800
This is my eight-hundredth story. I knew I had a few dozen in me when I started but didn’t contemplate writing eight hundred. I’ve made some profound life statements as I celebrated each centennial. If you’ve been following me from the beginning, you’ve read them all. I included 500 Chunks in the book I published. …
One
I saw a video clip on Facebook the other day that compared one’s life to riding on a merry-go-round. You get one trip around. New people get on as riders depart. The departing part is dying. The comparison emphasizes the fact that life is short. We get a turn to live it but we’re …
Taking Turns
When I was a kid, I took a lot of turns. Some were fun but not all. Sometimes I got to choose, and others were cast upon me. I preferred those that involved a choice but that’s not always possible. My mom gave me my first instructions about taking turns. If we didn’t discuss it …
Oatmeal
The first time I recall having a thought about oatmeal was on one of the trips that our family took to visit Old Granny Barner in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We drove in my dad’s 1953 Ford about a year and a half after my sister, Jackie, was born. Dad packed the suitcases on the floor …