Monthly Archives: May 2012
Walking on West Lake
November 10, 2001 They say that golf is a good walk spoiled, but I was still a way from the Country Club when my Sunday morning walk went into the dumper. A driver was angered by my presence on West Lake Street and he let me know it. West Lake is a quiet street that […]
Waltzing
June 16, 2006 The reception for my niece’s wedding was held at a new hotel on the campus of an executive office park somewhere in Virginia. I say “somewhere” because I can’t remember where, and there were no landmarks. It had probably been a cornfield the year before. The hotel had three ballrooms and the […]
Words to Live & Die By
Quotations and passages on death and dying, life and living, here for insight, perspective, comfort. “I sat down in the middle of the garden, where snakes could scarcely approach unseen, and leaned my back against a warm yellow pumpkin… I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. […]
Words to Play By
“For when the One Great Scorer comes To write against your name, He marks – not that you won or lost – But how you played the Game.” — Grantland Rice “Grantland Rice can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.” — Gene Autry “I liked to win, but more than anything, I loved […]
Worm Syrup
July 5, 2004 When people ask if you had a nice weekend, they may be courteous, they may be curious, but I don’t think they expect a blow-by-blow retelling that takes as long as the actual event. But the question has prompted me to look at one particular weekend and consider just what it was […]
Yesterday
March 2, 2001 I grew up with the Beatles. When I was in high school, they gave me hope. When I was in college, they opened my eyes. And three weeks after Basic Training, they sang on a radio in the barracks in Monterey and lifted my own personality back up to the surface, gasping, […]
Wildlife
June 2002 One evening, I had been out visiting a friend and was driving home to Skaneateles on the New Seneca Turnpike, so named because it is a few years newer than the Old Seneca Turnpike, both dating from the early 1800s. It is a road that winds and rolls through farmland, up and down […]
How to Drink a Yard of Ale
When you drink a Yard of Ale, you’re going to be the center of attention, so you must dress appropriately. Avoid white. Rather, let the hand that chooses your wardrobe be guided to darker shades. And regardless of color, leave your cashmere favorites at home. Lean towards the informal, something perhaps in a waxed canvas, […]
Zoloft
May 14, 2005 I was not coping well. One evening, after an unscheduled one-hour cry, I lifted my head to find my pastor holding my hand. Before putting on the collar, he’d been a psychologist. The next day we talked, and I talked with my doctor, and the consensus was that I could use some […]
My Aunt Rhea
October 25, 2002 When Laurie first met my parents and visited the house I was raised in, she came away without a clue as to where I’d come from. But not long after that, I took her to meet my Aunt Rhea. Laurie told me later that she stepped inside the doorway, and said to […]
Faithful Readers 