We huddle in the corner, avoiding the crowd, the noise. We picked Susan up at the train station. Me, getting my bearings, looking ahead to where I might pull in, I ran a red light. A chorus of horns drove me back to the line. Sitting stupid, trying to look proud, or at least competent … Continue reading And when the curtain rises
Un-Disabled
Last night I watched Chicago Hope. It’s a medical drama, I think. This episode was about a hospital, and I assume they’re all about a hospital, so let’s go with calling it a medical drama. In this episode René Auberjonois, the actor who starred as Father Mulcahy on the TV show M*A*S*H, played a surgeon … Continue reading Un-Disabled
The Christmas Tree, 2019
Another year, another Christmas post. For a non-Christian, I spend a lot of time each December writing about Christmas. We picked up our tree today. For the fourth year in a row, we drove out through the dormant apple orchards to Showers’ Tree Farm. We used to go to Seven Springs Tree Farm, closer to … Continue reading The Christmas Tree, 2019
The Best on WordPress
I bailed on two more books last week. Something’s up. Either I’ve already read all the good books my library has to offer, or I’ve become too picky. I can’t find anything to read. I work in that library. Not as a librarian, but as a finance manager. I do the accounting, the budgeting, I … Continue reading The Best on WordPress
Post-Thanksgiving, Hungover
I just wrote a piece called Depression in Two Parts. I stuck it in the Vault. That’s what I call the buried folder on my hard drive where revealing essays go to die. The ones I don’t want to post. The ones that aren’t about me. DITP is about family. And friends (ex-friends) and emotions. … Continue reading Post-Thanksgiving, Hungover
CJ’s Resolution Challenge
Now I’ve done it. I’ve signed up for a race—CJ’s Resolution Challenge. It supports mid-Pennsylvania autism related organizations. “How long is the race?” you might ask. Well, that depends on how fast I run. On January 4, I’m doing a timed run. For three hours, I’ll run laps around a 1.6 mile wooded loop in … Continue reading CJ’s Resolution Challenge
Winning
It’s an ugly day. Dark gray, drab. You could say it’s raining on my parade, but it isn’t. Not yet, but it will. On a whim, I took today off work. The car needed to go in for service—oil leak—something to be stressed about. I took it in for an oil leak three weeks ago, … Continue reading Winning
Life is Good
A Facebook private message to me: It’s Eric’s birthday. We’re going to Appalachian Brewing Company after spin. This was waiting yesterday morning when I woke up. I messaged Lisa the night before looking for Eric’s cell number. As one of my first actions as a mountain bike coach, I’m setting up a spin class as … Continue reading Life is Good
Fancy Feast®
I pop open the can, Roz rubs against my leg. She paces back and forth, eager, and lets out a “mrouw.” “Mmm, Roz, it’s Salmon Feast in Gravy, your favorite.” It’s mine, too. I smell it and think how good it would taste over crackers—Carr’s® Table Water crackers to be specific. Two summers ago, my … Continue reading Fancy Feast®
Kids Need to Party
Lynchburg, Virginia, 1983—An intersection: Liberty Baptist College, Lynchburg College, Jerry Falwell and me. Here’s a fun fact: Liberty and Lynchburg have both become universities. I’m not really sure what turns a college into a university. Obviously, I could look it up, but then I’d have nothing but white space where these two sentences now stand. … Continue reading Kids Need to Party
Before & After
Before Are people laughing at my antique laptop? Months ago, as my laptop sat thinking, cursor spinning, trying to open Google Chrome, I finally admitted I needed to buy a new one. I timed it. It took a full minute to wake up the screen and open a browser window. I started pricing laptops. We … Continue reading Before & After
Christmas Creep
Rockin' around the Christmas tree At the Christmas party hop Mistletoe hung where you can see Every couple tries to stop “Who doesn’t like Christmas music?” Eli asked me this on our donut run this morning. His friend John slept over, and they needed a breakfast of fat and sugar to start their day correctly. … Continue reading Christmas Creep
A Eulogy for Me
As a blogger, it’s my job to write about my emotions. Strike that, blogging isn’t a job, I don’t get paid… anything. It’s my responsibility, an expectation that I tell you how I feel. What would be the point of a blog of introspection if it didn’t capture the rawness, agitation and truth that accompanies … Continue reading A Eulogy for Me
Fear and Running in Gettysburg
This post could also be called Neurosis! I woke up to a hard frost, late, at eight o’clock. My plan had me out the door running by eight. I blew my plan. A flurry of WordPress activity kept me up late last night. In bed at ten has me up at six. Eleven-thirty? Not six, … Continue reading Fear and Running in Gettysburg
In Search Of…
Halloween. Seventy-some degrees, tornado warning, driving sheets of rain. When Susan picked me up from work, she told me they cancelled Halloween. No, I don’t know who ‘they’ are. And I don’t know how they can cancel an international holiday. “Great,” I said, “are they going to cancel Christmas if it snows?” Suddenly I have … Continue reading In Search Of…
Killing time at Hyundai
Part of my 'killing time' collection. Be advised, I'm not suggesting it's time to kill. Gritty(er), (more) industrial. My morning run around Hanover, PA, not on foot, but on wheels. My car, the Hyundai, the ‘good’ one, needs service. It burns oil, consumes oil, a mechanic recently said. I brought it to the Honda dealership … Continue reading Killing time at Hyundai
Pray for Mike
We took pills, Mike and me. Lots of them. Mike took Darvon, an opioid. He found a giant plastic bottle in his Grandmother’s linen closet, one thousand pills. She used to be a nurse. He brought them back to college, took them by the fistful. I took speeders. Caffeine pills. I had big plastic bottles, … Continue reading Pray for Mike
Providence
Do your ever wonder “So what happened next?” I would. My blog is full of cliff-hangers. I write pondering posts questioning whether I should take some action in my life. Some are written just as I take on a new and positive activity. At the crest of a life-change. And then I never mention it … Continue reading Providence
I love you, what’s your name
I love you, I love you, I love you What's your name? I love you, I love you, I love you What's your name? Chorus of “Drunken Butterfly” by Sonic Youth. Do you blog? I’m guessing you do. I read a study showing that ninety-two percent of blog readers are also blog writers.* As a … Continue reading I love you, what’s your name
Vanity
Farmland elementary school. Named for the vast and plentiful fields they bulldozed to build my neighborhood. Me: eleven years old, sixth grade. My class produced a play—a scene from an Arthurian Court. My role was the Court Page. My single line: “Ho, the royal nurse!” which I couldn’t say properly. I couldn’t pronounce the letter … Continue reading Vanity
