Autumn is time for melancholy thoughts. It’s clear to me on days with cold breezes and low-slung steel-tinted clouds. I can sense winter’s henchmen clearing the path for what comes next. All days cannot be bright and cheery. You need time to steep in the tea of gray with no cream or sugar to mask…
Author: Tim Cotton
My Poker Face
My poker face must need a quick refresh; inner frustration shows when it shouldn’t. There was a time—not so long ago—that most folks couldn’t tell what I was thinking. Predictably, it was at a convenience store, and I was in a rush to get going. One of the reasons I switched to drinking only black…
A Song From Another Time
The song came on in just the nick of time. And I’m not saying it saved the day, but it was a welcome respite from the internalized self-doubt that overwhelms all of us from time to time. No, I don’t want a diagnosis, pity, or a phone call. There is no need to send me…
Julius, The Passive Solar Cat
The conversation interrupted the latest from Durand Jones & The Indications. I didn’t say it out loud, but I silently hoped that the verbal volley would be worth turning down the volume knob jutting from the dash of the Ford. I like a conversation, but sometimes I like music better. I only get so many…
Ernie Is My Co-Pilot
I like to think of myself as an individual who notices the little details that make up the bigger picture. I don’t claim to have been the best detective, but, in hindsight, I was pretty good. I wasn’t a collector of physical evidence. I was more of a mouthpiece. A conversationalist. An interviewer. I did…
Autumn, You Surprised Me
Fall will be our focus for the foreseeable future. With so much to do, the season sneaks up on us disguised as a summer afternoon that lulls us into believing that cool nights and warm days could last forever. Gangs of tomatoes cling to the vines as if they paid a bit extra to be…
September
I grabbed the two empty water jugs and trudged through the path lined by beech, hemlock, and pine. The grass between the tree roots and rocks swished against my boots and jeans, and I stopped whistling Earth Wind and Fire’s “September” for a few moments. After being absent for most of the summer, the red…
Come to Belfast on October 1st!
The writing comes hard on a week like this. To update you all, my dad had a valve replacement in Boston, and it took me away from my scheduled daily musings. It was a successful event, and he is doing well. Thanks for all the notes. This isn’t an apology, only an explanation about why…
Slow Lines, Fast Friends
A post-workday shopping excursion in the middle of the 2021 back-to-school buyer binge was dumb, but I was dumber. The thing is, I could have ordered the necessities from an online source, but I’m about to make a trip out of state with my pop, and I needed a couple of things sooner than even…
Maybe It Was Perfect
The current situation in the blogosphere is hazy with the chance of random thoughts, possibly a shower before I go to bed. I haven’t seen all my sisters—in the same space—for a ridiculous amount of time. I think it was for my parent’s sixtieth anniversary. This week, we all celebrated their 64th. Two of my…