Point Made

Moving is generally a stressful situation, unless, you have enough money to have people do your packing and moving. It’s also exhausting. Under the circumstances we faced  (See A Tree Falls in Fox Crossing, YouTube), moving had to be done quickly. It was also a time of a lot of activity at Maria’s job. You would think since is the fourth move we’ve made in four years, we would have winnowed out most of the crap from our moving van. But no, the stuff breeds in those unopened boxes and creeps out at night to feed on the forgotten things around it. all of this goes unseen until it’s time to pack.  The trip to Lowe’s for boxes, tape, stretch wrap, wrapping paper, and bubble wrap takes but a few minutes. It’s not that we haven’t done this before. We even know where to start.  Books . We have cut the inventory down, but we will never be without some of our books. Maria and I both have our favorite fiction. Then there are her decorating and gardens texts. Books are p...

Very possibly this week was, a was my good friend John Ray once said, a week full of white man's problems. In other words, no one I knew died in a tower fire in London, perished in the Mediterranean trying to flee from the chaos of the middle east or did we suffer personal injury. But stress is relative and reaction to stress can have serious consequences. We gave up trying to find a home to purchase. The market here, for houses in our desired price range, is volatile. We are trying to get financing and it's been difficult. We made one offer on a home and it was turned down. Other homes we liked were gone before we could act. Maria wisely called a time out. Seasonal allergies have laid my wife low. I do not share this malady and therefore can't really do more than making her the occasional soothing cup of tea. It's kind of like having the child with this type of thing. I love her and I hate to see her in pain and not be able to sooth her. The Mother Nature brought...

As we look forward to celebrating the Pride we have in our Gay population, (Yeah, I couldn't resist the pun.) I'm pleased to report that diversity in the mix of our residents here in the Fox River Valley continues to surprise me. Example: As my wife and I waited for friends, in the lobby of the Marcus Hollywood Theater on the west side of Appleton, I witnessed three AfricanAmericann ladies buying snacks. Behind them was a Latino couple. At the end of the line, behind was an Asian fellow with three kids. We represented the WASP's. This is in a community that when I first visited in the nineteen sixties, if a black man walked down the street, he more than likely played football for Green Bay. After that, there was a rather pronounced immigration of Hmong and quieter arrival of Latino's. For a while, the worst keep secret was that the new Italian restaurant was actually owned by Mexican's. Since returning to the Valley, I've grown use...

I once attended a creative writing workshop. Marshall Cook a man who taught me more about writing than anyone. Asked the group who in the room thought they were writers? A couple of very tentative hands went up. When he asked who had sold their writing to anyone. I believe one hand went up. He asked if we thought that selling our work meant that we were real writers? Most of us, including me, raised our hands. He then said, "If you write, you are a writer. The test is why you write. Do you write because you have to or because you want to.?" Oddly, the real definitive answer is, if you write because you have to write. Wanting to write is like hoping you win the lottery. Having to write is buying the ticket. Agreed, having to write is more work than buying a lottery ticket, but the dream is as big and the odds of published success is comperable. Hence Halvin and Cobbs. I, like many others, that subject ourselves to scribble out a couple of hundred words a week to satis...

A singular approach to eating Cake There's an old story about a man who was dating a woman named Cate. He was entranced by her beauty and charm but felt insecure with her in social situations because her attractive looks and glowing personality attracted so many men. Then he met Edith. Edith was plain looking and quiet in the company of others. She was intelligent, resourceful and talented. He loved her for her witty sense of humor. The two woman so different and yet desirable as life long companions. He dithered and dallied for he could not make up his mind. Because he must choice only one of them to marry. For alas, he could not have his Cate and Edith too. "Cake is a wonderful concoction. Its only function, however, is facilitating the eating of frosting.  This is so much more dignified than consuming frosting from a spoon." Jeffrey Jordan, from an essay "Why You Should Never Cook Broccolii" If the truth is to be known, I have spent a g...

Wonder Woman  and other images I've dragged through puberty into old age. Men, what is it about us? We're cruising along in life almost as tall as the shortest girl in our Junior High class,. Then we start growing hair in our armpits, and suddenly we want to play with the girls again. Of course, the games we want to play are not the games we competed in when we were five. My generation impregnated our dreams with images of women like Wonder Women (WW). She was tough. She was sexy. She was the kind of women, a young man could always dream, who would fall for him if they ever got the chance to meet. Why she would even notice a twelve-year-old kid much less fall for him was never on the table for consideration. Recognizing that Wonder Women is a fantasy that came to you when you started shaving, she is now a standard against which all other women will be judges. Yeah, we know there is no bullet repealing shield or bracelets, but sometimes you wish ...

Breaking News We're moving. It's not an 'if' question anymore. It's moved into the 'when' column. Having bookmarked Zillow and some of the major real estate company website's, we are out looking. Our current landlord had offered to sell us the house we currently rent from him. Unfortunately, we are unable to reach agreement on a sale price. Having lived in the home for a little over a year, we are aware of what needs to be fixed, replaced or lived with. Starting with the galley kitchen, which lives up to its name, if you're on a small boat. Then we need to replace the carpeting that might actually have a cure for Ebola hidden in the fibers. Outside, near Lake Maria, there is the tree that should be removed before it falls on the house or worse yet the neighbors. These are all items at the top of the list. Since he insists on finding value where we say there is none, we are off and running. This will be our fourth move in as many years. One silv...