While away, I worried about my cat. Would his neurotic personality unravel during our 37 day absence? Five families took turns feeding him. The grandkids brushed his shaggy coat. He made new friends. It took a village, but he thrived. I fretted, too, about the yard birds. Who would feed them? Not to worry. They … More Organized Chaos
We bought umbrellas. We enjoyed the rain. Mist glazed our cheeks. She wore gloves. I didn’t. We walked. There’s purpose to my wife’s gait; the caregiver. I mosey without focus; the patient. I strive to keep pace. I do, barely. Her will pulls me forward. Along the Willamette, on Waterfront Park, we marvel at the … More How I Spent My Winter Vacation
I’ve been off treatment from my cancer, multiple myeloma, since June. I needed a break. I took the risk. I was walking a tight rope, but I felt good. Subsequent blood labs show a steady progression of the cancer markers. I figured that sometime, around right now, I would have to get back on the … More Back on the Juice
Dry, pumpkin colored fall: the season to gather apples and grapes. Geese congregate before their flight south. Squirrels store food for winter. The whimsy of Halloween collides with bittersweet autumn. I lean into the tenderness of its melancholy contradictions. If we celebrate the harvest, then we must also accept the reckoning. Autumn cushions the fall … More The Last Bouquet
“Sometimes, you don’t know where you are going until you get there.” Anonymous In August my wife and I drove to Manzanita on the Oregon coast. We were accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law. Our mutual objective was to escape the inland heat. Each morning we walked Neahkanie Beach. A haiku of fog shrouded Cape … More Just Coasting Along
“Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.” Pema Chodron I am a fifteen year veteran of Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer of plasma cells. The majority of MMers have a life expectancy of around five years at the time of diagnosis. Approximately 20% of patients with this disease persist longer. I’m on the lucky … More The University of Cancer, Part Five
“All night and all morning the air raid sirens howled. Shells blew up. We ate ice cream.” Olha, a citizen of Ukraine The seasons roll along. March slips into April. Winter melts away. Daffodils laugh a yellow laugh, their roots tickled by the warming earth. Covid comes and goes and comes again. It lurks in … More Springtime in Ukraine
“It’s not all or nothing. But, it’s always something.” Wendy In the late winter of 2022, we rented a house in Oakland between Broadway and Lake Merritt. We arose before cafes opened. In silence, we read headlines on our devices. Covid; January 6th; Zelenskiy; War; Putin. Our Airbnb had old school ambience. It’s fifteen steps above … More Lake Merritt
The chop got my attention. A toddler in the seat ahead whimpered. He’d fussed and cried for much of the two hour flight. Over tired, I suspect. The last stewardess standing swayed with the pitch and roll of our descent. She buckled in. Soon after, the plane hit the tarmac hard, bounced once, and settled. … More It’s Not Always Rainbows
We scuffed through the narrow perimeter of dunes. The powdery sand gave way with each step. Tall grasses glowed in the morning light. Once upon the beach, the going eased. An ebbing tide had packed the sand. It stretched for miles, north and south. Ahead, the ocean schussed with a succession of breaking waves that … More Another Roadside Attraction
Good Blood, Bad Blood 