This is Jack. Jack is 30 years old. Do not say, “Poor Jack.” Jack has a good life. Jack lives with Harold and Joyce in North Missouri. Jack has an entire pasture to himself, not counting deer and turkeys. No ones tells Jack what to do. No, sir. Jack taught a slew of grand kids how to […]
My mother and her friend, Wilma Jean, celebrated May Day. No, they did not march through Red Square in Moscow endorsing eighty hour-work weeks for little pay. They kept alive the ancient rite of Northern European pagans welcoming the coming of summer. And really, what smalltown Missouri girl in the forties didn’t love a good […]
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. –-Hanlon’s Razor If you know anything about the Steubenville rape case, you don’t need me to rehash it here. If you are unfamiliar with it, welcome back to Earth. How was your space flight? Like most people, I followed the case only superficially, but […]
We have a soggy Independence Day in Louisville, which will make the Old Fashioned 4th brought to you by Cialas and Propecia a little damp. I don’t mind if I have to skip the fun. Independence Day in Eagleville, Missouri (fireworks capital of the world, yessiree) set a high standard. Here’s how a typical […]
My younger daughter Sophia and I drove an hour or so east of our home yesterday to watch a college softball game in Lexington, Kentucky. It was a good day. Sophia was chatty, and we had our usual conversations about the source of tofu and other deep topics. My mind wandered a lot to the […]
An excerpt from The Savior of Turk. After I died, I figured I’d possess a clear memory of my whole life, from the day I popped out of my mama’s belly till they put a sheet over my head at the hospital. In eternity, I had in mind that I’d go back and forth over […]
We put up our tree last night. It’s a small Fraser Fir. The names comes from an old Germanic dialect which means Dude, you were totally ripped off. I much prefer another variety of Christmas tree called coniferous cheapus. I often buy trees from the boy scouts who have a lot at a nearby church. One year […]
My daughter keeps asking me for a Christmas list, so I’ll write one here, which she can reference if she cares to. I wish companies mistakenly delivered big cans of popcorn to my office year round. Popcorn is nature’s perfect food. Especially when it has caramel drizzled all over it. But I can do […]
My father is in good health. (I have to assume so, 600 miles away, because it’s a family tradition to keep illness a secret until one can say, “I’m better now. Did I forget to mention I was in the hospital?” ) Still, I mourn for him, because Dad doesn’t want to talk on the phone […]
We buried Aunt Imo on the last day of August when Northwest Missouri was suffering through another year of drought. Grass had turned the color of dank wheat from the lack of water, and trees had begun to shed their prematurely-dying leaves. A cold front pushed through, leaving the day overcast, cool and breezy. It […]
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