I like to tend to my small birds. Today I see their birdbath is nearly empty of water. I make a mental note to add a pitcher of water as soon as I finish picking up around the kitchen. Meanwhile, steam continues rising from the bath on this bitterly cold morning. *** The current temperature […]
Winter Doldrums
Mid-January. I can count on consistent cold for at least another couple of months. My rational mind knows better, but I sometimes wonder whether the sun permanently has vanished behind thick and impenetrable gray clouds, low, menacing, and, […]
Old Shoes
I met Donna and Craig in the 1970s. We have been very close friends for nearly a half century. Fresh from law school, my first job as a clerk for a state appellate court judge required me to relocate to the medium sized city where the judge resided. I was married at this time, but […]
The More Things Change…
My first email of 2022 contained the subject line, “Greetings from Lee.” In her email, Lee apologized for not previously sending along certain linked photographs. Of course, I highly doubted this message was sent to me by Lee, since it’s now going on two years that she died. Additionally, looking at the URL coupled with […]
A Very Covid Christmas
I celebrated Thanksgiving with Robyn and her brood, but assured Lee’s brother, Paul, that I would be celebrating Christmas with him and his family. Neither Robyn nor I celebrate Christmas as a matter of faith, but it’s an important holiday for Paul just as it was an important holiday for Lee. Sharing this holiday with […]
Year in Review
I made my first modest contributions to this site on February 4, 2021. As I look back on this first year’s output, I am surprised to see that I have now filed more than 40 reports concerning my personal journey as a widower, and there is still one week left to go before we finally […]
My Old Man
As a seven-year-old I wrote an essay entitled, “My Old Man,” for a second-grade writing assignment about our fathers, and instantly it had created a furor. Perhaps my teacher thought I was being disrespectful. If so, then she would have been wrong. However, I never received any explanation why she was discomfited. All I knew […]
Unavoidable Grief
I was on my way back home from visiting Bob and Linda when I got Paul’s call informing me that Steve had died. Steve is the father of Paul’s daughter-in-law, Katie. Paul reported that Steve had died just three weeks after complaining of stomach pain and getting a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I […]
Then and Now
On the day after Thanksgiving Lola the pup and I travel to Deer Tick Manor to officially close the place until Spring arrives once again. Because the house is drafty and it rests on a cold slab of earth and concrete, this process requires battening down the hatches to the maximum extent possible to protect […]
Thanksgiving Remembrance (Revisited)
[This article first appeared last year about this same time, hence, it’s being “revisited.”] Going back to the start of 2021, I have been volunteering my time on Thursdays at a local food pantry that serves our community. I am off today, however, because we are closed on Thanksgiving, which seems more than a bit […]
Trouble in Paradise?
I met Robyn on one of those dating sites. She was not the first woman I dated after Lee died. We hit things off instantly, though initially I would not have been able to explain to you why this was the case. The truth is, we don’t have as much in common as you […]
Nearing Season’s End
This week I am on a scouting mission to Deer Tick Manor in advance of its unofficial closing on November 29. As I sit down to begin this week’s post, I have not gotten much done today beyond filling my vehicle with “cheap” gas, visiting my neighbors, talking with Robyn a couple times, and baking […]