Category Archives: Ruminations

Nothing revolves around us, not the earth. Not the planets. Certainly not the sun. We, on the other hand, revolve around everything and everyone important in our lives. You can’t let that go; you just can’t. Love won’t permit it. … Continue reading →

High winds and heavy rain from Sunday afternoon’s storms left twigs and broken branches on the ground. Last night, the shrieking furies returned, their anger stronger than before, intent on howling their way through the forest and shredding the sky with … Continue reading →

I read an article the other day by a veteran who said he cringed when he heard people say “Happy Memorial Day!” I understood; Memorial Day is dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives in defense of … Continue reading →

Things worth remembering are worth writing.

New tires. Check. New brake pads. Check. New headlights ordered. Check. Front-end alignment scheduled. Not yet, but soon. Won’t be long now before our thirteen-year-old’s reconstructive and cosmetic surgery makes her an almost attractive ride.

Kindness is such an easy habit to fall out of. My advice to myself, and anyone else who’s reading this, is to practice it every day so it becomes second nature.

I remember a time, years ago, in an old, worn coffee shop, when I saw a man sheepishly wipe caked sugar from his face.  Coffee had dribbled from his cup, catching his lower lip and chin before it spilled onto his shirt. He … Continue reading →

Dusk invades late in the day and light begins to drain from the sky. As nightfall approaches, the speed of its disappearance accelerates, as if daylight were running away as fast as it can from the approaching darkness.  Is darkness the absence … Continue reading →

Overcoming challenges or, at least, meeting them head-on offers a great sense of personal satisfaction.

It feels so damn good to learn new things, doesn’t it? I mean, if every day simply brought more of the same stuff you already knew, wouldn’t you want to swallow a Walmart-sized bottle of sleeping pills? Some days I … Continue reading →

Is there a ground pork shortage nationwide, or is it just in the vicinity of Hot Springs? I have been looking for ground pork for days.  How can I make pork congee without ground pork? I finally took desperate measures yesterday … Continue reading →

If I were forced to say what happiness smells like, I would speak of freshly ground coffee.

If you love me, you’ll kiss me from time to time. It’s as simple as that. And my role in this love-fest is identical to yours. So there you go. Your status, and mine, will be apparent in short order, … Continue reading →

Drifting through a sleepless night, I stopped in on an occasional haunting dream. Once, a rental car’s tires went flat, sending the car into a ditch and exposing collapsible rims and shredded tires. Later, or perhaps earlier, a woman flirted … Continue reading →

One distinctly negative effect of the internet is the fact that the definition of  “news media” is coming apart at the seams. Where does one find “news” versus opinions and active partisanship masquerading as news? In Hot Springs, AR, a “news” … Continue reading →

It’s humbling to be surrounded by talent. The presence of so much talent could overwhelm one’s efforts to develop it in oneself, but that would be a shame. Rather than feeling surrounded by impossible-to-scale walls of talent, it pays to see the hundreds … Continue reading →

Just say what you feel, to the right person, and you’ll feel better about the way you  feel about the right person.

It is not outside the realm of possibility that a mass extinction, like that of the dinosaur, will claim humanity in the foreseeable future. Should that occur, I suspect a new form of “intelligent” life will evolve to recapture the … Continue reading →

I should have trusted the process of my suppositions when I heard what I first thought was a mourning dove, then decided was an owl, and finally figured might be a roadrunner.  But, no, I went back to the idea it … Continue reading →

Vague responses to imprecise questions muddy our understanding of things about which we already know little.

The darkest place is the place with no hope,  the place with no springboard to better thoughts or ideas. Once you stumble into that dark place, it’s hard to find a way out; you need someone to show you the … Continue reading →

Every morning I awaken to possibilities that only I control— if I control them. I make the choice to either mold the day into what I want it to be or let it wash over me. The key is that I know I am … Continue reading →

Yesterday’s twenty-eight degree spread between temperature high and low was a stark reminder of the fact that summer is coming. That same spread, though, demonstrated that comfort slides in during the night, giving us a welcome greeting as we start … Continue reading →

A friend began writing her memoir, set in the future looking back, this morning.  Creativity is an amazing thing; she asked me to read what she’s written and I was stunned with its honesty and creativity and depth of emotion. … Continue reading →

The blood of all the innocents killed or left to die in the hot and cold wars of the last twenty centuries rained down in sheets, drowning their murderers who wallowed in sanguinary luxury.