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ABANDONED PLACES WHERE COMMON SENSE USED TO BE

September 27, 2021 by

Abandoned places can be literal or figurative. The first is an old log cabin in the woods rotting into the ground; the other is the hollow spot in your chest where a heart use to be. Why a heart? Because I’ve had recent experience with that hollow spot. With regard to emotions, ignore them long […]

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BEST JOB STARTS WELL, STAYS STRONG, ENDS IN SADNESS

September 26, 2021 by

My best job lasted a couple of decades. It was an insight into human nature for what it was. When I decided to move back to Oregon after a short time away, I decided I wanted to do things only done in Oregon. I’d already spent a summer sliming fish in Hallmarks Fisheries in Charleston […]

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STILL LIFE CONVERSATION FROM A NOW LATE AFTERNOON

September 25, 2021 by

A still life painting is every painting, but not according to the Tate Museum. One of the principal genres (subject types) of Western art – essentially, the subject matter of a still life painting or sculpture is anything that does not move or is dead. A painting may depict action, but when’s the last time […]

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BREAKING POINT REACHED. THEN WHAT?

September 24, 2021 by

Everyone has a breaking point, so let’s get past the tough guy act. Even if you have to fish around to find a break, you will find it. Or someone else will find it. You should want to find it sooner than later. A good example of a breaking point is mumps and measles: as […]

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MEDICAL SCIENCE FOR STREET DOCTORS

September 23, 2021 by

Medical science seems complicated from the outside looking in. If you’re on the inside looking out, it’s even more complicated. But it’s different for Street Doctors, or SDs. From them nothing is too complicated. And that’s a problem, a big problem. Not for them, for their ‘patients.’ Where do Street Doctors come from? Start with […]

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WHEN A SOAKER HOSE IS NOT A SNAKE

September 22, 2021 by

Not one soaker hose, two. Two? Both chopped and buried. Right here? You know the metal thing you screw a hose to? Yeah, that thing. They’re in there somewhere. What if I found the soaker hose and hooked water up? Those hoses are thirty some feet long. All chopped by shovels or rotten. So don’t […]

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HEALING PROCESS SECRET? STAY OUT OF THE WAY

September 21, 2021 by

I learned about the healing process early. The first fourteen years included two brothers, then a sister. My dad used to tell us to “quiet down, there’s a sick man in the hospital.” In North Bend, Oregon, the hospital was about a mile and a half from our house. We weren’t that noisy. After a […]

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HEART HEALTH STARTER SONG LIST

September 20, 2021 by

It takes time to move from a broken heart to heart health status. Luckily there’s a soundtrack for the occasion. After spending one night in the hospital one week ago today, the first since fourth grade, I made a list up in my head. It could use some additions in comments. And a one, and […]

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WRITING ADVICE FOR A BROKEN HEART HOSPITAL CAMPOUT

September 19, 2021 by

Writing advice from writers usually comes with a warning, or should: This is what works for them. It might work for you or another writer, but it definitely works for them. After a single night campout in a hospital bed, their advice carried more weight for better or worse. A week out from the event […]

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EMPATHY SUPERPOWER: THE NURSING TOOL KIT

September 18, 2021 by

I know empathy superpower when I see it. Why? Because I’ve felt it. I had a headache when my brother got hit with a bat. If I could have, I would have donated my knees to Joe Namath for playing football in white shoes and long hair. I feel things with people and let it […]

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