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FIRE STARTER FOR YOUR FACE: MATCHBOOKS

If you smoke cigarettes you need a fire starter. It won’t light itself. A few decades ago, quite a few, it seemed like everyone smoked. I worked in an office in the early 80’s that allowed smoking at your desk. Some people did it with a smoke filter, others just let it rip when they […]

ONE TRICK PONY, MAYBE TWO

I rode this horse three times a week, sometimes more, for two months. Her name was Fancy and she let me know how important horses are. A retired Air Force sergeant owned Fancy and Roxy and he rented them on one condition: You had to ride them the way he wanted you to ride. It […]

READING LESSON: WHO? WHAT? WHERE?

A reading lesson is more than the title for a blog post, more than a list of books, but it’s not more than you need. If you didn’t know, now you know. I need a lesson, you need a lesson, we all need a lesson. After a writing lesson, I’m here to help. All ready? […]

A CURATED LIFE OF MUSEUM QUALITY

Who wouldn’t want a curated life? Curated: carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized or presented We’d get to skip all of the confusion and misunderstandings and go right to the good stuff. Sounds good to me, except for a small part. You know that small part?

MY JOURNEY? WHERE ARE WE GOING

How many times have you seen a title beginning with, ‘My Journey?’ The answer is, “A lot.” I googled it to make sure. Everything is journey, an adventure, a trip? No, no it’s not, and understanding why is a great cause of disappointment. But, if everything was a journey, how many have you had?

BELIEF TO DISBELIEF, AND BACK

Belief to disbelief in anything you see, touch, or feel, is a short trip. First you hear something you like and it’s all, “Hell yeah, brudder.” But real life happens, as it does, and what you’ve heard comes to fruition. It’s not what you expect? Your inner-immature critic says, ‘F-that. No one asked for that.’ […]

CHILDREN LEARN BY EXAMPLE SO TEACH THEM WELL

Children learn by looking to their elders for clues. Elders don’t always remember the clues when they’re too busy feeling forgotten.  But, there are reminders.   You, who are on the roadMust have a code you try to live byAnd so become yourselfBecause the past is just a goodbye

THE OTHER PORTLAND OREGON

The other Portland once had a reputation as a place for rich hippies to retire young and send their kids to Reed College. If that was the 70’s those kids might be fifty or sixty years old; thirty or forty if they started a family late, or decided to have more than one family. Since […]

TRY ME? EVERY FATHER’S HOPE

“I’ve got three boys,” a former football star said. “I’ve got to stay in shape because they’re going to try me.” Try me? Do we all know what that means? Probably not if you didn’t try your Dad. But you did. Right? You did? How did that work out for you? How does it ever […]