Wildfires
Last year, around the election, the trees caught fire up north in our state. There was a drought and a heatwave, it was 70 degrees in November. Good people stepped …
Sipping Whiskey
“…the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death.” I avoid Cormac McCarthy. Not only does …
Adultery – Andre Dubus
I finished “Adultery,” the long short story by Andre Dubus, this morning. It really touched on some reasons why adultery is such a fascinating theme. I have written about it …
A Field Of Energy Dancing For Itself
The actor has come to believe we do not exist. We are all just extras in a shadow play. It was some time after he won the Oscar for Best Supporting …
He Wasn’t Your Average Bleeding Heart
We went to the shooting range together a few times, and on the ride back, it was always good conversation. I grew up shooting, and afterward, it’s always a weight …
In Hahn Woods/ Lullwater Preserve
I called in sick to work today. Sometimes you can feel the wires coming loose in your brain and rather than complete a work order, spend the entire day …
Before The War
In the days just after the first attacks, I’d wake in the night from reoccurring dreams of violence and horror to find my four year-old son standing beside the bed, …
The Assistant Librarian Sleeping On The Cosmic Ocean
Working at the northern branch now, in the suburbs, she says little all day. She rarely looks up from checking in books. She knows all she would see is housewives …
The Fiction Writer Realized Novels Would Never Be Enough
At a certain point in her development as a writer, the fiction writer realized novels would never be enough. She had gone beyond simply wanting to make a living …
Little Pink Sandals
She stands at the bottom of the freeway exit, holding a small cardboard sign, diminutive compared to surrounding billboards. Been in an accident? One call, that’s all… Eat more chicken …