In early April 2010 my wife of fourteen years and I woke up flat broke and homeless having just spent and lost thousands on a bad decision to move back up on the Blue Ridge, to leave the heat of the lowlands and breath mountain air again. She lost her job before Christmas, and now works sporadically as a gardener while my SS disability payments and North Carolina pension are being eaten alive at 29% interest by the gluttons who are our creditors. The past seven months have drained our energy,… Continue

I have to tell you, B.R., that I really am a fourteen-year-old boy trapped in the body of a sixty-year-old man. I have two daughters and four grandchildren and many times have been lectured to in baby-talk by a an articulate two-year-old-child. One two-year-old in particular was my daughter, Gwendelyn, graced with blue eyes and super-fine hair the color of a new penny, and an awareness, an indescribable unspoken knowledge way beyond her years. When she was two, we spent many hours arguing,… Continue

I have always been fascinated with the power of words. When thoughtfully composed, their power increases and certain groupings have the power to make us either laugh or cry. If one has never had the pleasure of seeing the short film in which they are spoken (the title of which I've long since forgotten), my favorite grouping of four is meaningless, but for the great majority of us fortunate enough to have had the cinematic experience, they have the power to evoke laughter just thinking them:… Continue

I can sense the approach of a powerful thunderstorm shortly before the clouds begin to gather. I turn off all the lights and electronics, and almost giddy with joyful anticipation, I walk to my overstuffed chair that faces two huge curtain-less picture widows. Assuming a meditative posture and with palms turned upward, I slow my breathing and wait. With each distant rumble that follows each flash and flicker, a sense of indescribable calm tucks me in. If luck will hold, the storm will pass… Continue

Doc? Note! I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet! On cod!!

(This palindrome is one of the longest on record. Its author is unknown. My father showed it to me
when I was about seven years old thus introducing me to the joys of words and the power inherent in
their infinite possible permutations.)