Same Little Legs Still Carry You

The little girl in the bright yellow tee-shirt caught my attention. Must have been nine, maybe ten. It was rainy, not a downpour, rather one of those spongy May mornings. Stationary raindrops clung where they landed, glistening spheres on feathery iris, pale and pearly white. The landscape was awash in purples, pinks, grey and green. Many shades of green. I noticed her because she was alone. This is a rare sight on a busy street during the morning rush and the little … [Read more...]

Zen Dentistry and Other Acts of Courage

  So, I was talking to my shrink yesterday. We determined that I had not seen him since 2009, as he was in his former location, not as fancy as his new place. Must be a high demand for therapists these days. I understand from whence this comes, being a card carrying member of the Highly-Functioning Merely Neurotic Club. Even we need an occasional tune-up on the couch. I did not lay down. I did lay out what I called the churn. The dreaded … [Read more...]

Random Acts of Elevator Kindness

On the G train heading home to my son’s place in Brooklyn Saturday night, I committed a cardinal sin. I spoke to a stranger. Well really, he started it. I was reading the playbill from the show we’d just seen, curious over why Toni Collette was the only actor to have this disclaimer after her name: “appearing with the support of Actors’ Equity Association.” “Surely she’s not the only union member in this play,” I said to Patrick. A gentleman sitting across the car … [Read more...]

Ride the Rails

  I first met Michael in a dog park in Philadelphia while on my Off the Leash journey in July of 2011. It was early on. Libby and I were still getting our sea legs under us, a bit tentative. The vibe in each city, each park, every situation felt different. Michael was cool. He’s a soft-spoken guy, cute, young enough to be one of my sons.  He was at the dog park with Frank, his client dog that day. Turns out Michael was a dog walker. We quickly fell in, with … [Read more...]

Three Little Words

He had no idea the maelstrom of emotion that would blow in behind one short, declarative sentence.  On a day when I was supposed to get a make over at the Clinique counter, with a particular interest in the “Dark Circle Corrector” and a new, natural look, which for me is code for “get out of the 80s”, but I cancelled due to too many competing demands for my squeezed-into-two-precious-days life now, I went to the gym instead. The gym was just one entry on my unrealistic … [Read more...]

Holes in Our Hearts and Maybe My Head

**Originally posted, July 2011, Revised July 2013** The sign in front of the Standard Artificial Limbs store always makes me think of my step father.  On the day he died at the VA hospital in Albuquerque, after my mother and I summoned the rest of the family to tell them he’d passed, once everybody took turns patting him on his rapid cooling forehead, we all walked out into the broiling parking lot, the blacktop almost spongy under the August dessert sun, with my … [Read more...]

Peace and Love My Little Bird

Dinner guests gone, my out-of-town  relatives tucked in for the night, I went outside last night to blow out the candles on the patio. I sat. The weather has been blessedly mild in St. Louis the past  few days. Unheard of for it not to be hotter than a fire cracker on the 4th of July. The evening air was lovely, scent of gun powder notwithstanding. We'd had a good night. People I love, dotted my well worn deck, with the warped plank that's curled up on one end. I cover … [Read more...]

Never Seen So Many Books

Have you?  Thanks to The Book House for hosting us today. Tony and I talked all about New Mexico, I left and immediately went and bought a taco at Nacho Mama's up the street, home of the drive-through marg.  Note that my foot is firmly planted on Libby's leash. There was a cat in the back room. … [Read more...]

Lure of the mic, uh, I mean “road”

Well... okay, so most people are not tuned in to the radio on Memorial Day Morning, but me and ol' Charlie waxed poetic about the Art of Acceleration. Here's a link if you'd like to give a listen to Off the Leash Behind the Mic on the Charlie Brennan Show.  … [Read more...]

In Observance of National Poetry Month

Sometimes I indulge in a little free verse. Sometimes I indulge in bars and shout "Free Bird!"  Anyway, hope you like it. Desert Inn Lovers, like impressions in clay leave behind their sweetness. Blue eyes, brown, this one, that,a lifetime. How many kisses in the dark?Adoring, no hesitation, only love. I welcomed you like the sunpouring over me, a golden glazenever hardening. Wraps round me now, a whiskey spun cocoon,mere memories.No regret. I breathe. I live. I … [Read more...]