Every morning of this new year, I’ve tried to write… or I wrote, or I am writing. It’s not always what I want to write, and the effort is usually short-lived. On Thursday, I had too much narrative in me in the morning to distill my thinking and words into images or something more poetic….
Twenty Twenty-Five
It’s Wednesday. New Year’s Day. The morning sky is complicated with clouds. Sunlight cracks through the marbled gray. It’s not quite 9am. It’ll be later than that when I’m done writing this. I’ve already started a pork roast with sauerkraut in the crockpot. Later I’ll make mashed potatoes. I’ve had my breakfast: waffles, eggs, bacon….
Jack Handy Celebrates the Holiday Season with a Renewed Sense of Openness and Optimism (Deep Thoughts)
I spent the better part of a rainy Sunday morning writing. I had just returned (the night before) from a brief trip to the east coast to visit friends and family for the holidays. In my musings and in my head, I was still caught somewhere between reverie for the past and optimism for the…
The Combination
10-16-24. 10-16-24. Wait maybe it’s 15. 10-15-24. I woke with those numbers in my head – repeating the sequence over and over. I could see the combination lock – standard Stanly. Silver. Black dial. White numbers. Little hash marks. right 10, left 16, right 24. I made my coffee. One scoop. Two scoops. 10-16-24. Three…
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
My McGriddle breakfast with a large coffee and medium orange juice cost under $10. It felt like a steal compared to San Francisco prices… though I haven’t had McDonald’s in years – maybe it’s just as cheap out there. It’s early yet. It’s dark and wet – and warmer than I was expecting. I’m in…
‘Tis the Season
It’s cold in Pennsylvania. On Monday, I took the red-eye. As the plane landed, I was struck by how flat and brown the landscape was. I arrived on the morning of Christmas Eve to snow and ice. I’m spending a few days with friends and family. This time of year always feels a little deeper…
Why Bother…?
The small, oscillating space heater makes a grinding sound when it changes direction. It’s chilly and dark. 6am and I’m bogged down with a case of the “why bothers?” The why bothers make it difficult to write. Daily practice, which I have forsaken, tends to keep the why bothers at bay. Heavily afflicted, as I…
One Year of Being a San Franciscan
Yesterday marked one year since I became a resident of San Francisco, California. I had been living in a hotel here for a few weeks, but it wasn’t until December 9th when I moved into my apartment that I could officially change my address. To celebrate the occasion, I stayed in and went to bed…
Thanksgiving 2024
Every year since starting this little blog, I’ve written about Thanksgiving. Most of those years, I’ve also written about Christmas. The holidays (even ones like Memorial Day and July 4th) are some of the more stark reminders that in moving away from home four or five years ago, I made a pretty hard departure from…
The Weather I Have Been Under
Gray dawn. Windows streaked with rain. Even though it’s late fall in San Francisco, the atmosphere reminds me of springtime back east. I miss my garden. I miss the March thaw, the April rains, the daffodils, forget-me-nots, and crocuses, the shovel’s thrust, the turning over of thick earth. Here, my seasons are in disarray, my…
Fight, Flight, or Freeze
Ever since the election, I’ve been consumed by following the news – mostly political/cultural/American news. Ever since the election I’ve been wondering, like many Americans, what’s next? How does this play out? How bad could this get? It is a confusing time. I have days when I think the left and the progressives are being…
Ruminations in the Fall
“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” – Thich Nhat Hanh It took me the better of the day, Sunday, to realize I had been ruminating. This wasn’t your garden variety kind of brooding – there were no long and…