Archives
The Old Place is the 80 acres of woods and swamp and fields where I was born: actually I was born ten miles down the road in Blackduck but Robert was born on this very land. It is, for reasons I cannot exactly explain, the most important place in my life. I was a very happy young child there, free to roam the woods with book in hand, or walk up and… Read More
September 22, early 23, 2021: Albuquerque, New Mexico almost to Marathon, Texas. Cheap motel on noisy street in Carlsbad on night one. My first substantial road trip in a few years. Albuquerque to Carlsbad NM to Marathon TX to San Antonio TX. Granddaughter Patricia’s in San Antonio to Granddaughter Teresa’s in Austin to Hobbs NM to Albuquerque. Primary goals, besides having good fun with Patricia and Teresa, include never setting tire to… Read More
Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. (Rainer Maria Rilke) Color is a prime ingredient of every single thing we see and a big part of our language…but it doesn’t get credit for how ‘primary’ it is. I’m a little bit obsessed with color. I have a lovely book titled On Color (David Scott Kastan… Read More
It was May 3, 2021 and we were emerging from the pandemic—when last I wrote. Now it is August 1, 2021 and we are…what? I am as confused by life as everyone one else right now. So here’s a back-to-blog-world post about my very own pandemic-free month…kind of like ‘what I did on my summer vacation’ but with the expectation that I’m returning to the new-normal…you know, the socially-distanced, when can-I-take-another-trip normal…. Read More
Good to know Covid didn’t alter that weird state of existence called ‘Monday.’ I am most anxious to return to work, to normalcy, to complaining about Monday. Of course work…as in required hours and pay checks and counting vaca hours hasn’t returned…but as I was stressing about the ‘shuttered venue operators grant’ which, if we apply and are among the selected, will enable North Fourth to get its mojo back and pay… Read More
Places are medicine for nearly all that ails me: Far places, foreign places, home places, warm places, cold places, as my passport will attest…most places. But a couple of them are special of course: California, Minnesota. Yes, I did climb Black Mountain and posted the photos to prove it. Such a relief to get that pesky ‘old’ issue out of the way for another year. There were other highlights before winging my… Read More
I have these photos…fall, winter 2020. Not great photos or particularly meaningful photos…but they capture ordinary moments of a not-at-all ordinary year. So for posterity:
What a strange week. Energetic. Writing. Picking bedroom paint colors. Time at North Fourth thinking it will be part of our lives again? All good…except that the Sleaze just won’t leave the building. I shouldn’t be nervous. I think. Should I? DT is like the blob…devouring any good in his path…and can’t be destroyed. But he must be ultimately, mustn’t he?…or is that me, age 8, ‘whistling in the dark’ on my… Read More