Today I adopted a dog. He’s a 3-year-old pit mix. A rescue from Cincinnati who made his way to PA last week. He’s about as sweet as can be. He walks well on the leash, knows how to sit and stay and come, and is very affectionate. His name is Gus, but I’m thinking of…
Category: Dear Diary
Now I Wait
I slept in until almost 8. It’s sunny but cold this morning. The car is covered in that white salt dust that accumulates while driving through Pennsylvania’s winters. Earlier, I passed a car wash where the line was seven or eight cars deep. I’m sitting in the parking lot at the emergency pet hospital waiting…
Not Ready (Still)
I’m no more ready to lose my buddy that I was yesterday. Despite a trip to the vet, I’m no closer to knowing what the issue is than I was last night. Nick, my cat, is still not eating, still kinda dazed, and now a little stand-offish. I know it was a rough day for…
Not Ready
It’s 11:30 at night – Tuesday. Nick, my cat and occasional fluffy alarm clock didn’t wake me up this morning. He usually gets me up sometime around 5. He’s been unwell lately. He’s not eating as much. Tonight he seems to be sneezing more than usual and seems dazed. I tried to get him to…
More of the Same
It’s dark out. I can see the silhouette of a dog against the sliding back door light of the house behind mine. I can’t tell if the dog is waiting to be let in or waiting to be let out. My cat, Nick, is sitting on the floor a few feet away from me. His…
And Everything in Between
On Wednesday, January 6th, I woke up early-ish, ate breakfast, and sat down to write. I had read an article about the link between narcissistic mothers and complex PTSD in their daughters/children. I was engaged to a woman who suffered from something close to complex PTSD and had a difficult relationship with her mother. I…
Acknowledgments
…and to my wife, Beth. She knows how much. That’s the last line in the acknowledgments at the beginning of a book of poems I was about to read. In the acknowledgments, a few well-known poets are mentioned, and Joe Salerno is called irreplaceable, but Beth… well, she knows how much. Stephen Dunn wrote, “The…
Thanksgiving 2020
Like so many things in 2020, Thanksgiving this year was different. Last Thanksgiving was the first one I spent away from my family. Friends of my friend Stacy were kind enough to invite me over to a friendsgiving type of event. It was fun and warm and friendly – all the things we expect out…
Attitude of Gratitude
Venting, complaining, bitching – I fell like I do too much of this. By nature, I tend to joke around and be pretty easy going – I like to think I’m laid back…. but then I remember that whiny little bitch inside me. My sense of humor is dry and self-effacing – usually to mask…
Paperwork, Detours, and Things of Little Consequence
A number of years ago I was driving to work and listening to NPR when I heard a piece about the psychology behind (and stress we create for ourselves by) putting off relatively simple, but perhaps tedious, tasks. The speaker was a professor at a university. He was, by all accounts, perfectly capable of handling…