Leaving and Loss
When they cleared Marysville, Grandmother pulled over. Tears stained her dress. Uncle Keith, too young to get his license, begged his Mom to drive. Distraught, her distress alarmed the boys. They switched places. On the way to Santa Barbara, she [...]
The Last Letter
When Pearl Harbor happened, it was like an itch that commanded the big scratch. The day it happened, Grandad called his kids in to hear the radio. You could hear a pin drop but for the announcer and his dramatic [...]
More than one life …
When Dad died, there were 2 versions of his life written for his obituary. My brother’s and mine. My brother’s version won which was only right. Living in the same town, he had been there for the heartbreaking decline. I [...]
An idyllic time …
It’s easy to believe that a floodgate can just open and spill its guts. Years of retaining soaking rains and melting snow gone in a second. Like that, an avalanche of water crashes and crushes everything. But any good engineer [...]
A writer' life – at the heart of the thing.
I’ve struggled with where to begin. That’s the thing about stories. Where does it all begin and where does it end. So, I will begin where all good stories do – in the middle. It is from where we are [...]
Tree of Life
TREE OF LIFE In the mist enveloping the scene, Those great Druids in my dreams stood poised to scythe the fruit of their tree, sacred CRANN BETHADH. In my dreams, childhood reflections, they were more like the trees Grandfather [...]
The Critical Mass of Story
Yesterday, a writer friend and I were discussing critical mass. At what point do we discover a lack of critical mass? Can we find our creative meaning without it? Is critical mass necessary to our own wellbeing and that of [...]
On Knowing Clouds ~
There is a large wedge-shaped white cloud that hovers over the hill I see from my office window. The sky is light blue. The wind is strong and the wheat colored coastal grass bends with the breeze. As hard as [...]