He simply would not listen, would not change the way he did things, and would not stop bringing in more and more junk that nobody on the planet wanted. We had no idea how this three-quarters-dead old man would leave another four hundred pounds of crap for us to sort, but he pulled off this…
A very bad man, part four
December 1, 2013
When we arrived at Larry’s hanger, he told us he didn’t have the key, so we’d have to go home. Instead, Tim took a crowbar from his car and silently broke the lock while Larry wailed. Inside, we learned the last of Larry’s secrets. His hidden treasure was a landfill of magazines, cardboard boxes, empty…
A very bad man, part five
December 1, 2013
After we were back within our own walls, I waited an hour and then called Larry’s home number. He answered with his mouth full and told me that he was perfectly okay. I could hear his television blasting in the background “I’m really sorry, but I can’t come back,” I said. “Yeah, sure, I understand….
Thanks for the clarity
November 28, 2013
On this Thanksgiving Day, I say, “Thanks for the clarity, whomever or whatever you are, if you’re up-out-in there.” I think the way the system is set up is that the more clearly you can think and see, the more becomes comprehensible and visible. If I have my car radio turned all the way up,…
Outer and inner space
November 28, 2013
A reader sent me the link to “The Single Most Mind-Altering Photograph Humanity Has Ever Taken.” It’s a short video presentation about a photo of Earth that Voyager 1 took. The image is dubbed “Pale Blue Dot” and was the inspiration for Carl Sagan’s 1994 book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future…
How to recognize trouble
November 24, 2013
In the two weeks encompassing Mom’s funeral and burial, Tim and I had to deal with quite a lot of people. Many of them are the kind we’ve permanently banished from our lives. Yesterday I woke from a horrendous nightmare that I won’t relate. I was chilled to the bone, my teeth chattering, so I…
Dreams
November 22, 2013
I’ve taken more photos in the past year than in the previous fifteen. I used to be an avid photographer but gave it up when I lost so much of my eyesight that I couldn’t build scale models anymore. The advent of digital cameras has been a godsend. Now I step outside, capture a moment,…
The ineffable joy of burning bridges
November 11, 2013
I’m not burning all my bridges. But I’m burning enough of them to make people upset. This morning I got an e-mail request to be added to the mailing list. When I went to the site to do so, I saw that half of my subscribers have unsubscribed. I think most of them were the…
The importance of not being afraid
November 6, 2013
Both my parents were afraid to die, but Dad was crippled with terror. It was simply not possible to talk to him about his death. He told me in all seriousness that until he was seventy-five, he honestly thought he’d live forever. I’ve never known anyone who thought he was immortal. The neighbors who used…