I’ve been going nuts with the business of living ever since I returned home on Sunday, following my final few days at Deer Tick Manor. As I a prepare tonight’s impromptu cookout for some neighbors, I’m afraid that this week’s blog offering has less meat on the bone than is typical. *** As for my […]
Farewell Deer Tick Manor
Regular readers by now will be familiar with Deer Tick Manor, the semi-rural property that Lee and I acquired almost 20 years ago. On July 18th, I bid farewell to Deer Tick. By late afternoon on that date, the place should have new owners, who may call it by any name they wish. To help […]
Three Old Men
My close friendships with Eric and Bob go back to our high school days. We have remained so throughout these many years, despite the changes in our respective personal circumstances that inevitably occur over the course of a lifetime: wives and girlfriends, children and grandchildren, jobs and careers, and health being chief among these. The […]
Message in a Bottle
As you knew would happen, it’s been an emotional couple of weeks for me as I approach the second anniversary of the date of your passing. I have no clue where to find you or, really, any way to know whether you exist apart. I do know that when I look up into the night […]
Fighting Through Inertia
The confluence of two celebratory occasions, Father’s Day, and my birthday, leaves me in a pensive mood today. As I have told you before, I have not fathered any children, a fact that is among my regrets in this life. Unlike Mick Jagger, whose youngest child was born in 2016 when Mick was already in […]
Arrow of Time
I was married to Lee on June 12th, which was this past Sunday. Can I still say that June 12th is my anniversary? Or that June 12th was my anniversary? Should I say that June 12th would have been our anniversary? Using proper grammar can be daunting, especially when referring to a loved one who […]
A Piece of Me
From time to time in these musings I have mentioned that I am a charter member of the Frazier Thomas Band. The Frazier Thomas Band was the imaginary air guitar band my oldest and nearest friends and I formed back in the late sixties to celebrate our halcyon days of youth. It seemed to grow […]
Life Digresses
Suddenly, to my mild surprise, things are popping on my end that involve potentially life-altering changes. Suddenly there are unavoidable matters at hand that I must attend to without distraction or delay. Unfortunately, as a result, this means that for one week I must defer sharing my widower observations and feelings with you. My apologies […]
Summer Solstice
Summer solstice. Winter solstice. The longest and shortest days of the year in the northern hemisphere. When I imagine the four seasons, I often will envision the face of a round clock, Summer representing the number twelve and Winter representing its opposite number, six. June and December. Six and twelve on […]
Route 66
After this past Winter I have resolved that next year, I am getting out of Dodge. It is not merely the frequent snowstorms, or the relentless cold, or the shearing wind, or the constant overcast skies and dreary days, or the mess on the ground, or even the necessity of layers of heavy, cumbersome weather […]
Red Bud
As soon as I heard media report that we would at last see the sun and enjoy temperatures above 70 degrees, Lola the pup and I made quick plans to take a respite from our long Winter here in the city to enjoy a bit of “west and welaxation“ at Deer Tick Manor. When we […]
Hangdog
I am feeling a little blue the past couple of days. There is no specific cause. Indeed, I would describe the feeling as being mostly a sense impression. I know that I have felt the blues at times in my life, yet, fortunately, by nature I am a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. Thus, I always […]