I am a chopper of wood and carrier of water, a keeper of bees, digger of soil, and washer of dishes, but when people ask me "what do you do" I usually satisfy them with "I'm in information technology." If they really want to know, I'll tell them about the decade as a wilderness guide. Some jobs are vocations, some are avocations, but that one was an evocation. I also wrangle pixels and try to herd them into representations of coherent thoughts, which is a provocation. :-)
When I was very young, the stories of older people fascinated me. My grandmother’s stories were so vivid that listening to her seemed like traveling back in time. Nostalgia smooths the rough places in our personal history and polishes the mirror of reflection until the image may be somewhat distorted, but most of us remember … More Polishing the Mirror
“Advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land, – it largely increases the product.”― P. T. Barnum Once upon a time, we talked about weather when the conversation began to lag. Weather was a neutral topic suitable for idle chit chat. It wasn’t a topic for those who were gifted with gab. … More Laying It On A Little Too Thick
Please…don’t let politics ever close your eyes again to the deadly games played beyond the speeches … More Pirates Don’t Lose Wars
Science fiction has always adumbrated science fact, and in the 21st century the gap between the two is narrow. Medical technology saves lives that would have been lost even a decade ago. Automobile engines run 100 thousand miles without a major repair. We tinker with the very source code of our human operating system and … More Dull As A Fro
“Judge a man, not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.” -Martin Luther King Jr. The words reflect the core values of American society. The wisdom they contain is much older – at least as old as the Bible, for Judaeo-Christianity has long held that the heart steers the … More Strange Days
The baseball cap, beyond it’s namesake function of keeping the sun out of a ball player’s eyes, is much more. Despite the fact that in some sophisticated but unfortunate circles of urban cliff dwellers it has been assigned a role in lampooning those of us who are blessed to reside in rural areas, when I … More A Tip of the Hat
Our title is the signature line from the “Highlander” series of movies and television shows. If you haven’t seen it, the plot revolves around a group of “immortals” who vie for power, fated to fight and destroy each other until only one is left to receive “the prize.” The scale of our story this week … More There Can Be Only One
If you have lived in rural America for any length of time you’re probably seen, perhaps even made for yourself, a rabbit box. Traps and snares are almost as old as humanity, but the rabbit box evolved out here in the country where lumber and wood working tools were common, and the need to protect … More Rabbit in the Box
We swam in the ocean and pulled crab from the brackish waters of a tidal creek; walked along the marshes and watched the flight of big, graceful birds. The draw of the sea is powerful, but perhaps because I was formed of dust and not of sand, no amount of salt and sun, nor even … More Across the Great Empty – Part 2
“From the mountains to the sea,Where her rivers roll.There I ever long to be,O my heart; my soul;” These are the words of Robert Loveman from his poem, “Georgia,” which, along with the music of Lollie Belle Wylie, formed the official anthem of the State of Georgia before 1979. The words have always spoken to … More Across The Great Empty – Part 1
Outside The Box 