Does the tremendous amount of hatred over the course of human history and across the world today ever become personally overwhelming even when it’s not aimed at you? And then you wonder anew—because you’ve thought [...]
Memories Are Where You Find Them
The Necessity of Knowing Both Past and Present
This past week, as I tried to carve out time to work on my next novel while also following the crisis in Ukraine and the Senate hearings on the new Supreme Court nominee, I was [...]
Is This Nineteen Twenty-Two?
What year in America does the following describe, 2022 or 1922? Loved ones gone in a pandemic; racial violence plaguing towns and cities; veterans home from war but still suffering the effects of battle; careless [...]
Christmas in a Small Town: Connected Experiences and Memories
If you were to ask your family and friends, or perfect strangers, what’s the best thing about the Christmas season, what would they say? Being with loved ones? Lights and decorations? Santa Claus? Christmas dinner? [...]
Sunshine Does, Too, Smell!
The proverbial “they” say sunshine doesn’t smell. But I say it does. That’s because I’ve smelled it, many times. I hope you have too. If not, I feel bad for you, because you’ve missed a [...]
When Songs Plus Memories Add Up to More
Isn’t it strange how sometimes a series of small seemingly unrelated and not especially meaningful occurrences suddenly get pulled together by some other minor happening so that they add up to something bigger? A new [...]