I remember the day my father dropped me off at college. I was eighteen years old. I gazed into the mirror after he had gone and said aloud to my reflection, “You’re never going to make it here.” The room was spartan--concrete walls, a bunk, a dresser and a desk on each side with … Continue reading Remembering the Hobo Day Riots of 1990–The Skinny Kid Goes to College
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My Father’s Shoes
In my earliest recollection of childhood, I feign sleep in the back seat of a car. Through a veil of eyelashes, I watch motes of dust circulate in a shaft of sunlight like something astral. I remain like that a long time--in wonder of the dust--when I hear my mother tell my father that … Continue reading My Father’s Shoes
What’s in Ohio?
My grandfather is dead now. I never got to know him very well. I suppose I could have made more of an effort but I had my own problems. My mother’s family all lived out East. We never visited them. I think my father feared that if we went out there he would be the … Continue reading What’s in Ohio?
Daydreaming About Frank Lloyd Wright
I paused in my rounds the other day to admire a house on my route a bit more closely. For the first time, I recognized it as a Prairie-style house with its Craftsman details, hip roof, broad eaves and abundant windows. It was exactly the sort of home I had long fantasized about owning, aside … Continue reading Daydreaming About Frank Lloyd Wright
Mouse Trouble
I’ve yet to slaughter any cats, but I once killed a mouse in front of my son with a tennis racket. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt as satisfied in my manhood as at that moment, or so attuned to nature. We can admire the songbirds with our binoculars, but it is worth … Continue reading Mouse Trouble
Seven Manifestations of God: a Photo Essay
I haven't read the Bible in decades, nor do I attend church. I don't pray in any formal sense. Yet, I regard myself as a spiritual person. If I were to label my beliefs, I would say I am a naturalistic pantheist--someone who rejoices in the beauty of the natural world, someone who sees God, … Continue reading Seven Manifestations of God: a Photo Essay
Good Protein–Edible Thoughts on the Bugs that Bug Us
The elementary school sent out an alert about Japanese beetles destroying the newly planted fruit orchard. As if Pearl Harbor hadn’t been enough! Finding myself strangely transfixed by the whiteness of the ceiling overhead, my wife read me the dire news as I sipped my Folgers coffee. My son’s second-grade class had planted Zestars—an early-ripening … Continue reading Good Protein–Edible Thoughts on the Bugs that Bug Us
The Skinny Kid
My father taught me how to fight when I was so young that I probably would have had trouble beating up a chicken. He started by showing me the proper way to make a fist. I was never sure who I was supposed to be fighting or what sort of brawls, if any, my … Continue reading The Skinny Kid
Devil Birds
Winter is a grim time for any mailman, but so long as the temperature is above zero and the wind isn't blowing too strong, it isn't that bad. My job was a comfort to me, the dull uniformity of it. At work, at least I knew what to expect. I delighted in hearing coworkers endlessly … Continue reading Devil Birds
The White Whale of Privilege
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking Penguin 2000) is an epic adventure of men battling nature to stay alive. The Essex disaster was the real-life inspiration for Herman Melville’s immortal classic, Moby Dick. The survivors of the Essex--a Nantucket whaling vessel that sank after being intentionally … Continue reading The White Whale of Privilege
