We met at the University of Washington. That first day on campus I was lost. With over 500 buildings, occupying over 20,000,000 million (as in million) square feet, the University of Washington was, to me, during Orientation Days, as foreign as the Orient and I was as forlorn a freshman as was ever admitted on […]
To Ponder
Letter: Can You Laugh and Cry At The Same Time?
As I entered the kitchen this Thanksgiving morning to get my cup of coffee, there on the stove was a pie, made by our daughter, decorated with a simple tulip in honor of her Dutch mom, my wife. And just like that the tears started. Don’t ask me to pray today as the family gathers […]
CenterStage – Sleeping Beauty – Holiday Panto
My wife Peggy and I had already taken my cousin Lavinia Hart to see a production at CenterStage in Federal Way. She enjoyed it. For the latest presentation, Peggy was feeling tired and opted out, while Lindy (AKA Lavinia) and I drove to Dumas Bay in Federal Way for the Sleeping Beauty Panto. This was […]
Letter: The Crack in the Sidewalk
One carefully avoided – although just in time – the crack in the sidewalk. The other, the younger of the two, being blissfully unaware of how huge a misstep stepping on a concrete expansion joint really is – second only to stepping on the other’s shadow (not polite) – toddled alongside. With time and practice […]
In the Book Nook with … Katherine Cobb
Author Katherine Cobb from south central Virginia splits her time between being an author and her boutique marketing communications agency. She wrote short stories, beginning in junior high. She started writing professionally in 2002 when she landed an editorial column which she wrote for 15 years, earning her a Best Lifestyle Columnist award from the […]
Letter: When Those Grieving Return Home
The setting of the story entitled “The Secret Garden” where the narrative unfolds, centers around a private-walled, bramble-invested, weed-overgrown, unkempt- and long-unattended theater of sorts where once roses took center stage. Following the death of Archibald Craven’s wife – who tended the garden – the sorrowing, grieving husband locked the garden gate, buried the key, […]
The Last Bus – Film Review
I was watching TV late at night in bed. I was on the verge of closing my eyes and going to sleep. Tubi, one of my favorite channels, has an interesting collection of films to choose from. Nearly half-a-sleep I clicked on “The Last Bus.” Although not knowing the name of Timmothy Spall, I recognized […]
Across the Fence: Gemütlichkeit
Who doesn’t know the Germanism Gemütlichkeit in the English language?! Gemüt (approximately pronounced ga-‘moot) has a bunch of meanings: mind, soul, disposition, feeling. You might recognize that the English term mood is related. Gemütlichkeit (approximately pronounced ga-‘mootlih-kite) means coziness, snugness, homeliness. The concept of Gemütlichkeit seems to have developed during the German era of Biedermeier […]
Letter: When The World Leaves You Behind
Fifteen months into my service as school board director I lost my wife of 50 years to cancer, now just nine months ago today. And at a school board director’s conference this weekend I lost again. It is my hope that these two losses, added together, will equal a win for those who read what […]