That Time I Put My Foot in My Mouth
Too bad about the “too.” It was an odd crossroad and it was dark. A mile out of town the two-lane road came to a stop. You turned left for the airport or you turned right to…
Full textGet to work, kid
There it is, the burning barrel. In the corner of the back yard of our house on Main Street. It’s a 55 gallon drum. The top has been cut out of it. One of my jobs is…
Full textFinal Four
It would be a heist. We’re standing on the sidewalk at the edge of the lot where Frank Lloyd Wright’s Master Builder Harold Turner built a beautiful house in 1959. Walking past it, we admire its large…
Full textMarcus Aurelius and the Goose
We were leaving the house for the bookstore, then lunch. Tizi asked, “Do you have a copy of Marcus Aurelius?” “No, why?” “I thought it might be a good gift for the boys.” Safe, for sure. These…
Full textBad New Berries
Ah, strawberries. A June fruit in Michigan. That’s what our trusted fruit man at one of the local farmers markets would always say. I’ve been rushing the season. All week I’ve been seduced by those plump blushing…
Full textA Little Sweetness
“What the heck,” Tizi says. “We might as well have another piece.” One of many reasons I love her. It’s lunch time, when postprandial delights are in order. Usually we finish with three almond cookies each, dunked…
Full textComing Soon
If I had to choose my favorite essay in this collection, today it would probably be “Toothpicks” (tomorrow “Beans and Baroque,” the day after that “Socks Optional”). When I started writing “Toothpicks” I didn’t know I was…
Full textLove and Other Incurable Ailments, a review
Early in Linda Sienkiewicz’s Love and Other Incurable Ailments, the narrator Serenity Tomczyk, confesses, “My heart ached over a stranger named Birdy,” establishing the motive for the decisions she will make and the actions that lie ahead.…
Full textSmart Car, Dumb Driver
“Please sign on the pad,” the rep says. I’m at the Sixt rental car counter at San Francisco International. From here Tizi and I will drive three hours south and east to Mariposa for a family visit.…
Full textEcumenical Meatloaf–from Get Thee to a Bakery
What got my attention was a BuzzFeed post I saw a few days ago. I would put it in the snarky-remarks-Europeans-make-about-Americans category. Lots of snark. So much you need subcategories. What irritates Europeans about Americans who travel…
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