Category Personal
Sauce for Pasta
Shop on Friday afternoon or evening. Then start cooking around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, after you’ve had a good walk, a shower and a healthy breakfast. If you’ve put off shopping, go shopping pronto and get home and cooking by 10 a.m. If you’re any later than that, forget about it and try again […]
Sailing
August 21, 2001 I saw something this afternoon that simply amazed me. I was walking home from work on a picture perfect day, warm sun, cool breeze, clear air, deep blue sky with a few high white clouds, and as I got to Thayer Park on the water, a young woman was bringing a sail […]
Back in the Saddle
A friend whose son is thinking about going to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimmaron, New Mexico, asked me about my experience there. Of course, I immediately recalled stories like this one: One of our activities was a trail ride on “line ponies,” docile beasts trained to follow the horse in front of them, and accustomed […]
My Russian Bride
so easy with the Internet no long letters, no long wait and there you were at the airport more beautiful than I could imagine I felt young again I smiled at the way you said, “Minsk” and you laughed when I said, “Moskva” we taught each other so quick you were to learn not just […]
Rick Geary
In an earlier incarnation, Faithful Readers needed some art. And, in kind of a dream come true, I found that Rick Geary would be willing to do it. Geary began working in comics in 1977 and for many years contributed to the “Funny Pages” of National Lampoon. His comic stories appeared in Heavy Metal, Dark […]
Pumice
Every time I sand a piece of wood, I think of Alan Carmichael. As the scoutmaster of my Boy Scout troop (122), he surely imparted many important life lessons to me, but all I remember is pumice. It came about during a discussion of neckerchief slides. The slide was a place in the Boy Scout […]
The Prince
The Queen Mother and I acknowledge your power but decline your overtures See us in red and black hues of alarm and fear trim, buttoned, buckled We hold still My cold smile tells you I am a prince in exile from his future
Kitchen Green
April 16, 2004 “I know exactly the shade of green you’re talking about,” she said. “I call it kitchen green.” It was a comfort to be talking with someone who understood my passion for a green, wood-handled bottle opener I had recently purchased for 25 cents at an estate sale. And she understood my excitement […]
Other People’s Stories
These are stories friends have shared with me, and they are too good to lose. * * * Ken’s in-laws treated him to a vacation in Jamaica, and after dinner one evening, Ken treated himself to a long walk and a vacation from his in-laws. He had floated through the afternoon on a river of […]
Opportunity
“And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.” — George W. Bush, Inaugural Address, January 20, 2001 August 5, 2005 When George Bush promised to create opportunity for all, I had no idea what doors he would open for me. Right on the heels of […]
Faithful Readers 