Johnny

At fifteen years of age, words with sentiment and grace do not come easily. Like eating green salad with a spoon, it’s an awkward exercise for an age group least prepared to express emotion. So it was that my first words to Johnny Romanow stumbled their way across my tongue and at the time I […]

What Have I Learned in Six Months?

I came here for a good argument.Ah, no you didn’t. You came here for an argument.An argument isn’t just contradiction.Well, it can be.No, it can’t.An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.No, it isn’t.Yes, it is. It isn’t just contradiction.Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a […]

Godspeed, Mark

The sky in front of us was crowded with angry, dark clouds. The kind that only a summer storm can produce. Clouds so low, the green tops of the surrounding pine forest threatened to skewer them as they waddled towards us. In another half mile, we would be in the thick of this storm and […]

Garlic & Gauloises

Now that I’ve been picked up by a real publisher, I’ve found that I have a new family. I’m now a part of the Winter Goose Publishing family and all of us lean on and support one another. We disagree, we laugh, cheer and occasionally poke good natured fun at one another. I haven’t quite […]

Where did Jonas Salk’s last dollar come from?

That question was posed by my friend Bill Englert.  It’s an intriguing question, isn’t it?  How much money did the cure for Polio cost and where did it come from?  And if Polio can be cured, why not Alzheimer’s? If you don’t know the mind-numbing statistics, let me enlighten you.  Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading […]

#ThrowBackThursday

I’m a fairly emotional guy.  I don’t mean that I cry often, rather I tend to linger over fond memories.  Perhaps too much.  Maybe that’s why I enjoy looking through old photographs.  Recently my wife asked me to help her find a photo of us from Mardi Gras.  We broke out stacks of real photos […]

On Your Left!

  I heard them coming.  The crunch of rubber tires on dried leaves, the click of a rear derailleur, the gentle whoosh of spokes beating the air; there was no need to look over my shoulder because I knew I had company.  I held my line and waited.  Surely one of them would offer up […]

A Honey of a Smile

  Patrick Square’s Farmer’s Market was buzzing with activity yet the sky behind Liydia Vdovichenko had grown menacing.  The threat of a thunderstorm was in the air yet she wasn’t fazed.  There were shoppers with money in their hands and she had something precious for sale.  Honey.  Made by her family’s bees, gathered by the […]

“At This Performance”

  Tears had formed in the eyes of Eric Ruiz and there wasn’t a tissue within 300 feet, and I suddenly felt stupid for not being prepared.  But I didn’t think I would need tissues.  After all, Eric plays a character capable of murder, one so intimidating that an entire community cedes to his demands, […]

Raising Six Grand

For the last four years I’ve made a donation to our local Juvenile Diabetes (JDRF) fundraiser.  This is a great charity, the local group raises hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they always score very high for efficiency and effectiveness.  And our community gets very involved in the fundraising.  This group never sits still; they sponsor […]