Tag memories

Open Doors

They told us who the targets were…Our best bets to make a sale. The gist of it was, lower middle class areas; where there was no man in the house or he wasn’t home. This is wrong on so many…

Summer of 76

First of all, you need to know that I have never been afraid to take off on some adventure, even from a young age. I was riding trains and buses between cities by myself starting at 11, and I often…

Verdi Cries *

Tropical beach with waves, golden sunset, and grassy shoreline

“With just three days more I’d have just about learned the entire score to Aida.” This song has always touched me deeply. There are a lot of theories about the meanings and intent behind it, though supposedly in a BBC…

The Motor Route

Car driving on a winding road at night under a starry sky

It was one of my summer hustle jobs. Through all the problems I went through as a young man, especially in college, no one ever had to tell me to hustle for a living. I got the work ethic from…

Three Things From My Childhood

Wooden desk with open laptop, books, lamp, drink, and writing materials in cozy study

A story about how things matter. Photographs can help you remember things, but objects make you feel things. The connection is not obvious as in a photo. You have to work a little bit to remember the significance and conjure…

On Being Cold In The Woods

It’s a feeling I know very well. It’s not a bad feeling if you know home is not far and your directions are sure. You can put up with the cold because comfort is waiting and you are sure of…

Iowa

If you know me, you’ve heard my story of being everywhere but home when I was growing up. Military Schools, full time sleep-away kid-sitters, summer camps. It was a weird blend of disadvantaged and privileged running side by side. The…

The Kitchen Clock

Every kitchen should have a clock. Up on the wall, over the sink or maybe over the entry door. They give us the time of day but also they keep watch. I don’t like the crazy kind, cats with moving…

Road Trips In The Dark

Between 10 and 4. That’s my favorite time to be behind the wheel. At 10pm the world is shutting down. At 4am it’s beginning to stir again. In between, I have the world to myself. It’s never about wandering, that’s…

The Great French Toast Experiment

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best idea. 10 year old me, already on the verge of being unmanageable, sent to board with a woman and her two young daughters. But my mother, needing some place to park me 24*7*365…

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