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®
Author: Jeff Cann
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
So many reasons to say yes
We arrived before the party even started. It didn’t make sense. Why show up early when I wanted to spend as little time there as possible? I guess we did it for Eli. Saturday was his season-end shindig. A cookout, a camp out, a chance to hang out with his coaches and teammates and not … Continue reading So many reasons to say yes
The battles of those around us – a guest post
Debbie Frick, the author of Conversations About Autism, showed up out of the blue. Over the past week, she and twenty-three other people began following my blog. My friend Robyn Coupe wrote a guest post, and legions of her followers clicked into my blog to see what she had to say about Tourette Syndrome. After reading … Continue reading The battles of those around us – a guest post
Endless Interruptions – a guest post
In my blogging world, Cara is a recent connection. I don't recall when she started reading and liking my posts, but it wasn't until after she left an intriguing comment that I clicked into her blog. I'm glad I did. The first post I read on Exploring Yoga was bursting with energy. Cara, a new yoga instructor, … Continue reading Endless Interruptions – a guest post
Running through Adversity
Years ago, honing my trail runner vibe, I decided to embrace adverse running conditions. My first run on the Gettysburg horse trail, a six-mile wooded loop around the Gettysburg Battlefield, happened during hurricane Sandy. My work, a YWCA, closed early that day. President Obama came on TV and told businesses to act responsibly. “Don’t add … Continue reading Running through Adversity
I’m sorry, I have Tourette Syndrome – a guest post
During my first months on WordPress, I searched for blogs to read. One I found was written by a young professional with Autism. It never before occurred to me that someone with Autism might have an office job, a job with goals and projects and deadlines. A job like mine. I was also surprised to … Continue reading I’m sorry, I have Tourette Syndrome – a guest post
Write me a story
Awareness. A teal ribbon. A buzzword, something I talk about often. Or at least I write about it. I suffer from Tourette Syndrome. A poorly understood disorder, uncurable. Stigmatized and ridiculed. So much so, that last spring, the Tourette Association of America’s entire social media campaign was Tourette: It’s not a punchline. C’mon, you might … Continue reading Write me a story
Expiration Date
I’m going to live forever. I’ve written that before. Five years ago when I was a shiny new blogger, fit, coasting in an easy job, spending at least eight hour per week writing, immortality looked like a good idea. My kids were younger, less complicated; my relationships were better, I still had friends. I couldn’t … Continue reading Expiration Date
My Viral Moment
Do you care about your online statistics? I do, a lot. But possibly, you don’t. If that’s true, stop reading now. You’re going to find this post ridiculous. From time to time, I read posts from bloggers who say their blog stats don’t matter. They don’t care about page views, likes, follows or shares. They … Continue reading My Viral Moment
