Despite an undeserved hard guy reputation in some quarters, the truth is I am a sensitive, occasionally sentimental, fellow at heart. However, I’m not feeling particularly sentimental at the moment. As I have mentioned, for me June is easily the funkiest month. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it represents both the best of times and the […]
Nowadays, I Feel Ambivalent About the Beautiful Month of June
According to one poll of adult Americans (https://today..ougov.com/society/articles/45312-americans-favorite-and-least-favorite-months-year), thirty-nine percent love the month of June and an additional forty-one percent like June. Nine percent of American adults dislike June, only three percent hate it. I do not know how the results should be interpreted, except it further demonstrates that Americans cannot agree about anything nowadays. […]
School’s Out
My great-nephew graduates from grammar school this Friday. It will mark an important transition for the young man. It is a big deal! As I’ve mentioned here from time to time, I come from a small family. My mother, father, and sister are gone. My current “immediate” family is down to two nephews, one great-nephew—the […]
Born Young at Heart
I had finished a game of pickleball and was standing around with a few others, who, like me, were gathered by the fence waiting for the next court to become available, when I overheard “Charlie” talking to a fellow about his in-laws. “Charlie” said his in-laws lived in a suburban housing complex that recently had […]
North Country
As a financial contributor to and supporter of its mission, I’ve just received a copy of the latest issue of the Nature Conservancy magazine. It featured an article on the Conservancy’s efforts to reclaim and protect huge swaths of land in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, a region known in these parts simply as the U.P. […]
“M is for the Many Things…”
I have been invited to spend Mother’s Day with Robyn at the home of her son, Kevin, whose brother Brian is flying here from California to celebrate the occasion with us. Of course, Robyn’s daughter Jill also will be there. So too, at least one, if not more, of Robyn’s grand kids – one never […]
Going Home
My friend, Amy, sent me photos of the house and property she recently made an offer to purchase. It’s several hours removed from the city we both currently call home, located in the small town where she was raised. Amy’s mother died a year or two back but her father never left and resides there […]
Every Picture Tells a Story
After Lee died, I was left with the photographs and paintings to lift me if I needed to see her. To this day, for example, I will take a moment to look at her images when I go down to the basement kitchen to fetch spare food items from storage. Regarding the painting shown […]
Dear Old Dad
Zoey said, “ I’m lucky to have you as my tutor.” And with that, I felt tears well up in my eyes. I had to look away from the camera that was connecting us via Zoom. I took a moment to gather myself before looking up and replying softly, thanks. She couldn’t know it, of […]
Roesbud
I brought the proposed estate documents my lawyer prepared to Arizona this past winter. With lots of free time, I planned to use some of it to review and revise. Now, it’s springtime. I’m back home. The trees and shrubs are sprouting leaves and flowers. The first annuals have pushed up through the soil; the […]
Old Dog, New Trick
Before this week’s tutoring session, I received the announcement that in several weeks my assigned student, Zoey, a fifth grader, will have end-of-year proficiency tests in reading and math. I’m not certain, but I suspect these tests mainly benefit the tutoring organization, which annually must justify its existence to expand its reach as a tutoring […]
Full Circle
Last Wednesday, when I told Robyn that I might make it home in just three days, instead of the usual four or five, I knew accomplishing the feat meant extending each day’s drive by several additional hours. I wasn’t firmly convinced myself as I much prefer to do less daily driving, not more. The first […]