The other day, I observed a little bird on the fence outside my kitchen window, combing its feathers with its little beak. And all of a sudden, I became aware of what a miracle we human beings have at hand in our hands. How much for granted we take them until they get hurt. And […]
Letter: She’s a keeper
We met at the University of Washington, Seattle campus. It wasn’t the whole “I Saw Her Standing There” across-the-crowded-room thing of the Beatle’s era, but it was close. It wasn’t 1963 – the debut of the Beatles opening track in their album “Please Please Me” – rather it was 1968. She wasn’t seventeen and we […]
Depression, Anxiety, and Plenty of Solitude
Glass windows can be as confining as iron bars when you want to be out in the world with friends and family. Before Covid-19 struck I had lunch regularly with friends at restaurants or at our home in Tacoma’s Northend. Also, Peg and I and I had long standing dinner dates with friends on most […]
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 […]
Westside Story – Lakewood City Council Ignites Fireworks Conversation
On the morning of May 25, 2020 at 6:04 a.m. I woke up to read an article in our beloved neighborhood newspaper, The Suburban Times. The article was titled, Lakewood City Council reviews fireworks regulations. Click my link to refer back to the article and to gain access to a city LINK which allows you […]
Name Calling, Accusations, Demonizing, and Witch Hunts
No, I’m not talking about the current political scene. I’m talking about the good old days; the days of black and white TV and wholesomeness that dripped and drooled venom and ruined the lives and livelihood of people who worked hard at their professions. I’m addressing the THE MCCARTHY ERA and the House Committee on […]
Letter: The little white picket fence
The little cottage on the corner is believed to be the only home in the community with a little white picket fence. Each of the 219 pickets cut from pallets. Free lumber. Eight-hundred and seventy-six nails, all hand-driven, not counting the ones that were bent, nor the nail on his finger which he had hit. […]
Westside Story – You Have To Hand It To Me
It was an unusually cold and fog-less night with no threat of rain as I parked my old BMW Z4 with the top down in front of 565 Broadway and walked a short distance to the famous giant old white Tacoma building that for decades served as Elks B.P.O.E. #174. The building was constructed in […]
Across the Fence: A Decade in the USA
Sometimes I can’t believe it how time flies. May 25, 2010 happened already ten years ago. That was the day when I got up in Stuttgart, Germany, around 3 a.m. to pack some odds and ends into my suitcase, tossed the keys to my apartment into my own mailbox, and took a cab to Stuttgart […]