I slowly walked the roped-off perimeter, the half circumference of a large semi-circular display, lost in my thoughts, lost in my head, maybe watching my feet, and my father’s feet next to mine. My father’s hand dangled below his waist, right next to my tiny ear. I reached up and grasped his hand searching for … Continue reading At the Tomb
The Pout-Pout Fish
Back when we still lived in Washington D.C., Susan and I frequently repeated a similar conversation. She would walk into our apartment after a work event or some other nighttime activity and say something like, “I had the nicest cab driver. He grew up in Mumbai. Moved here when he was twenty-two. His father owns … Continue reading The Pout-Pout Fish
The Disability Card
I played the disability card. Well, actually Susan did it, but on my behalf. She worries about me, tries to make my life easier, so she made the call. We flew to Portland recently, Oregon, not Maine. A long flight, probably about as long a flight as you can make from Baltimore and still be … Continue reading The Disability Card
An Almost Empty Nest
The nest is empty. The boy lives downtown, a block from the firehouse where he volunteers. When a call comes out, via cell phone now rather than scanner, he can report in mere minutes, ready to save a home or a life. The girl moved to Wyoming, fighting fires of her own. Forests, not structures, … Continue reading An Almost Empty Nest
I Swear
Bruce sent me a text the other day: Hey Jeff, the movie “I Swear” is opening in a local Baltimore theater. It’s the life story of Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson. G and I are going to see it this weekend. Maybe it’s playing in your neck of the woods. Bruce is one of my … Continue reading I Swear
What’s Missing from ‘Mom’
I identify as a late-adopter. I might even pride myself in this. Smart phones? At least a decade after everyone else. A.I.? Not yet. Our family was still mailing DVDs back and forth with Netflix long after everyone else streamed their movies. It’s not that I try to be a Luddite, although I surely am … Continue reading What’s Missing from ‘Mom’
Seven Months
Seven months ago, I dropped out of your life. Did you notice? I did. I ended my thirteen-year streak of blogging at least monthly. And truthfully, I blogged more like four to eight posts per month during those years. I doubt I ever wrote less than three. Maybe only a year ago, in an online … Continue reading Seven Months
Lost Your Hair
As a child born at the end of 1962, I caught the dying gasp of the Beatles run as a band. My family bought a copy of the 45 RPM single Let it Be, released in 1970. I suppose by that time, the band was already a thing of the past, but my older brothers … Continue reading Lost Your Hair
A Novel Idea
That proverbial clean slate. Everything is going to change. No, this isn’t about the Charlie Kirk killing and the impending civil war I contend has already started. And no, it’s not a nod to the YA novel The Maze Runner when the Gladers find Teresa in the box, and she cryptically blurts out this line. … Continue reading A Novel Idea
The Way
All the “God” I need My wife Susan and I drove past a church the other day. Out front, a sign read TGIF! I entered high school in the mid-seventies. At the time, poster sales proliferated record stores, drug stores, and Sears department stores—cute animals from kittens to seals, ugly animals from bulldogs to hippos, … Continue reading The Way
Headbanger
Papa was a headbanger. No, I didn’t call my father Papa, but when I wrote “Dad was a headbanger,” the Temptations song Papa was a Rolling Stone popped into my head. I needed to change what I wrote. Of course, Suzy is a Headbanger by the Ramones could have just as easily sprung up in … Continue reading Headbanger
Bad Medicine
After the library book sale, I boxed up the Native American table. It’s a mindless task. Grab an unfolded box from the stack on the floor. Give it structure, the shape of a box. Maryann slashes two strips of packing tape in the shape of a cross on the bottom with her tape gun. Fill … Continue reading Bad Medicine
Codger
Walking around the block, Susan and I pass the Columbia Gas family playing in their yard. The young couple, maybe late twenties, with two kids, an infant and a toddler, are one of the few families consistently outdoors. I know I should be able to supply a name rather than reference the work-truck parked in … Continue reading Codger
Self-Care = Junk Food?
Early in the week, June texted me. I’ve got a credenza and three file cabinets. She’s clearing out her home office, finally retired, the library where I work as good a donation recipient as anyone. A few weeks ago, she dropped off a big box of office supplies. I texted back the next day. Can … Continue reading Self-Care = Junk Food?
Windows to my Soul
At my 8th grade lunch table, we compared hands, budding palm readers, one and all. Marcus Pappas blurted out "Cann's and mine look like old lady hands." He had a point—thin and boney—but it irked me that he said this out loud. Marcus died thirty-five years ago while still good looking, except, I suppose, his … Continue reading Windows to my Soul
Well Played Mr. Trump
So *this* is who we are! Sally Edelstein’s blog Envisioning the American Dream included a post yesterday (July third, the day the house approved the senate version of Project 2025) that mourned the loss of American exceptionalism. To her, exceptionalism meant a country striving towards the ideal stated in the last line of the original … Continue reading Well Played Mr. Trump
The End of Wonder
Remember 2022, the golden era of the internet? Back then, a reel popped up on my Instagram feed. Security footage captures a man sitting on a Target-ball in front of a store. Target-ball? You know what I mean, those large red concrete balls spaced in front of Target’s glass entryway. They make smash-and-grab rammings nearly … Continue reading The End of Wonder
The Growing Threat of Violence
He stood on the corner before me as I crossed the street. His head bobbing and nodding, making eye contact, his lips already moving before I even made it to the sidewalk. A Fox 43 camera dangled at his side. I couldn't hear him—a live version of Folsom Prison Blues by the Dream Syndicate filled my ears—but I … Continue reading The Growing Threat of Violence
No Kings!
Read on a sign: You can’t spell HATRED without RED HAT. Following the George Floyd murder in 2020, after conservative America began its backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement, Susan and I joined a protest. A few hundred people, mostly college professors, nonprofit workers and retirees, encircled the Gettysburg town square. We held signs … Continue reading No Kings!
Reading Options for the End of the World
DR: Frequently, I write articles for various Gettysburg area publications promoting the library where I work. As an organization, we supply a minimum of three articles to these publications each week. That's 156 articles each year written by ten or fifteen employees. As you can imagine, it gets hard to keep the content fresh. As … Continue reading Reading Options for the End of the World
