Suffice it to say a book about an eight-week sojourn across the country with nobody but a dog contains a lot of self-reflection. Was thinking about that this morning, when I was noticing how the early morning light creates interesting shadows and contrasts, something I can indulge in as a gainfully, unemployed writer. This immediately made me think of this day last year, and my pleasant stay at the EconoLodge where I went into somewhat of a significant tailspin of … [Read more...]
Chi-Town Chicken Bones
July 8, 2012 By
A year ago today, I was in Chicago. Lovely city. With it only being day three of "THE TRIP" however, we were still in shake down mode. I'm not talking about robbing someone nor being robbed, I'm talking about learning how to navigate things like pooping in public, (her, not me) going to off leash parks and how to prevent her from choking to death on same damn old chicken bone. It would be a challenging, yet pivotal, two days. I'd had one of those oh shit moments … [Read more...]
What I Didn’t Know Then
July 6, 2012 By
One year ago tonight, at this precise moment of sundown on a Midwestern prairie, Libby and I were headed eastbound on U.S. 64 near Springfield, Illinois, where I would pull in to a nondescript Red Roof Inn, ushering in the first of many nights in which the motel maid was often the first and last human I'd speak to all day. Looking back, I shudder to think of what could have gone wrong. So much could have, what with a middle-aged woman, traveling all over the country … [Read more...]
Desperately Seeking Understanding, Maybe Even Fame
June 29, 2012 By
So Louie, the other dog has taken to jumping in through the open window of my car in the cool shade of the carport and sitting there like a cool cat, (even though he's a dog) waiting for me to discover him, which I typically do after a very short period of time, since I am so crazy about this crazy dog I miss him after about five minutes and thirty seconds. He apparently is expecting to go somewhere. If it's not an opportune time to take him and Libby for a spin, I … [Read more...]
Gary D
June 27, 2012 By
My brother Garrett would have been 61 years old today. That blows my mind, sixty-one ? You know what I'm talking about. What is more sobering is that come November 21st it will be ten years since his passing. Ten years? The "decade of disaster" as I've affectionately referred to it was ushered in with a phone call informing me of his death, followed by another phone call, just a few days later, that my former husband was in a shit load of trouble with the law, for … [Read more...]
If You Don’t Stop That, You’ll Go Blind
April 29, 2012 By
The email from her Blackberry said it all. “At a funeral. Back in the office soon.” It is a telling reflection of the world in which we live when a person feels a compunction to return an email in the middle of a funeral. This is beyond the pale. I am not throwing stones however, as I live in a glass house, which you’ll understand in a minute. The person who felt an overwhelming obligation to respond to one of 9,000 emails she probably gets in a day, I’m sure, just … [Read more...]
Just One Minute of Real Love
February 13, 2012 By
I’m a hypocrite. From shabby motel rooms, made less lonely by my dog on the bed, from Toledo to San Luis Obisbo, last summer I waxed poetic about the wonder, the glory and the healing tide of love. But I never waded into the topic of the kind of love which opens your every pore by the mere thought of the object du jour of your desire. It’s because I’m a hypocrite and a chicken. I drove nearly 9,000 miles, just me and a big yeller’ dog, who neither drives nor changes … [Read more...]
Be Careful What You Ask For
February 9, 2012 By
Wanted to pass along an update I put on my Kickstarter page tonight, which went to all the financial backers from last summer. The moral support that I've gotten from those included here is no less significant. Thanks to all y'all who remain the best friends a person could ever hope to have, even in two lifetimes. And to show, that collectively, y'all are some of the funniest people on the planet, I'm lifting some of the supportive comments I've rec'd to date, David … [Read more...]
I Will Never Leave You
February 7, 2012 By
* This is a re-post from September. Apologies to long -time readers. I am re-posting for some new visitors to the site. September 2, 2011 I hear the low rumble of trucks on the freeway from my porch, back home from my 8,600 mile odyssey. What just last night felt like a predator, the rattle and whirr of tractor trailer rigs, crowding me closer, closer and closer with each mile nearer home, now seems a seductress calling from a distance. It’s like a pack of … [Read more...]
It Gets Settled
January 1, 2012 By
If I could reach out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky with a single message, it would be this: someday it just won’t matter anymore. Before somebody throws a molotov cocktail through my front window, please hear me out. I’m not saying that what happened to them wasn’t criminal. I’m not saying that the perpetrator and the people who served as his de facto accomplices with their silence and accommodation, shouldn’t be punished. Heads should roll. It’s just that in the … [Read more...]
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