Putting laundry out on the clothesline today might’ve been a fool’s errand — thunderstorms of unspecified time and duration were in the forecast. Yet the day was so clear, the blue of the skies so deep, the cottony clouds so billowy that I didn’t care. A little past noon, I started pinning the laundry toContinue reading “On Laundry and the Rain”
Category Archives: Life
On Blog Tumbleweeds
Tumbleweeds have taken over this blog this week… Chalk it up to feeling unwell and overworked. Last weekend, I began to feel congested. On Sunday, I had a sandpaperish throat and clogged sinuses. On Monday, I had congestion in the bronchial passages and a persistent cough. Allergies? A cold? I have no idea. Just whenContinue reading “On Blog Tumbleweeds”
On My Daily Caffeine Intake
I am nothing without my morning coffee. I started drinking coffee at an early age. I must have been ten. It would be served after church services, and I would help myself to the coffee. Everyone — every adult, anyway — drank it. So why couldn’t I? I drank coffee irregularly. It wasn’t until 1996Continue reading “On My Daily Caffeine Intake”
On a City I’d Move To
I grew up in rural America. Mountains and trees, streams and fields. Rugged country. I’ve lived in cities since college. Richmond. Raleigh. Baltimore. At one time in my life, about a decade ago now, I thought that New York City would have been a fantastic place to be. Unfortunately, my friends who are New YorkersContinue reading “On a City I’d Move To”
On Writers and the Beer Diet
Writers should never be left to their own devices. This morning, I saw an article at Slate that asked the important question of our times — How Long Can You Survive on Beer Alone? As it happens, one can live for about two months on a diet consisting only of beer and water, at whichContinue reading “On Writers and the Beer Diet”
On the Architecture I Appreciate
Yesterday evening, I discovered a BBC program I’d not heard of — In Our Time, hosted by Melvyn Bragg. It’s a history program, and the host, Bragg, talks with a few experts about a given subject for forty minutes. I went and pulled a few episodes off the podcast feed, especially when I saw thatContinue reading “On the Architecture I Appreciate”
On Old-Time Video Games
In 1982, my grandfather gave my family an Atari 2600, along with a half-dozen games (like Pac-Man, Combat, and a few others). It was my first video game system. It’s still around, in the attic of my sister’s house, along with a bunch of games, some of which work, some of which don’t. About theContinue reading “On Old-Time Video Games”
On Charlie Brown Apparel
As I mentioned last week, I’ve recently started reading 3eanuts, a remix project (of a sort) of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. This morning, I noticed something, a detail that had somehow escaped my notice for thirty years. Charlie Brown wears a striped shirt. But it’s not a tee-shirt. No, Charlie Brown wears a polo shirt. OrContinue reading “On Charlie Brown Apparel”
On My Grandmother’s Decline
I’ve written very little on the subject of my grandmother recently. In truth, there’s been very little to say. Two weeks ago, I thought she wouldn’t last a month. It could be longer than that. She is nearing the end, though. The thing about my grandmother’s decline is the way her mental age seems toContinue reading “On My Grandmother’s Decline”
On An Unlikely Author Encounter
It would have been almost fifteen years ago now. It was a Sunday afternoon in spring. I was driving US Route 29, from Lynchburg north to Charlottesville. It’s a four lane highway the whole way, and a little north of Lovingston, a small town in Nelson County, the highway turns twisty, and for the nextContinue reading “On An Unlikely Author Encounter”