When the thermometer indicates three degrees, I know Ellie won’t be gone long during her morning constitution. Cold doesn’t bother her regularly, but the frozen, crusty snow tingles her toe pads a modicum more when she leaves the comfort of cozy carpeting. She’s a sneak. Even if I don’t step outside with her, I can…
Whenever I encounter a perception that is not a reality, I tuck it away. I’ll use that in a story someday, I say to myself. I’ve had this one under my hat for well over forty years. It’s too bad I can only share now that not all pawnbrokers are cut from the same cloth….
I only needed a boost—just a little. But most of the time, it’s enough. The tiny ladder came to me by happenstance, luck, more or less. I’ll take some credit for the find, but only because I watch the ditches and wood lines while I drive. Way down in the grass on Route 202, a…
If you want to find out what kind of power draw your appliances need, run your home on a generator for four days. Many folks have installed whole-house generators that automatically kick on when the power goes off. Some tell me the transition is almost unnoticeable. While an excellent option, I’m okay with my ten-minute…
While sweeping the back deck, I noted several shards of broken concrete. Leaves and pine needles were the focus of my attack. The wind storm left plenty. Yesterday, I picked up tree branches; today, I took on clearing out the detritus from the driveway and the decks. Naturally, perplexed by the discovery, I picked up…
Each time I enter the house from the back deck, it crosses my mind. I perform the task at least six or seven times daily; it’s Ellie’s portal to the potty. It’s not a fancy door. It’s functional, swings well, and closes tightly. I participated in the installation. Oh, I’ve installed doors before, a…
He came after breakfast, and our first meeting was via the FaceTime application on our Apple device. Both parents looked fantastic, but Mom was tired, as one would expect. Parents should be the ones who make birth announcements, but I can tell you that he is heavy and healthy. His sister was with us,…
David hadn’t been home for Thanksgiving in thirteen years. Only one of those years, for both November and December, he’d been in jail, taking his lumps for driving drunk and hitting a light pole. Most of the other years, he was intimately involved with spirits of the worst kind. Sobriety came slowly and disappeared…
Now, it’s just me and the pie. It didn’t start that way, of course. It came as a gift from the Significant One. I mentioned apple pie, sure. I’ve never made one, and I’m not starting now. A man needs to know his limitations. When she showed some passing interest in the idea, I put…
With Lewiston, Maine, on the hearts and minds of a whole nation, we’ve experienced some heartfelt celebrity outreach in recent days. Pro footballers from the New England Patriots gave shout-outs of support to the Lewiston Blue Devils and City of Auburn Red Eddies high school football teams. It all took place before the cross-river…