Just A Short Drive From Here By now, after eleven years, my daily drive home should pass by in fifteen uneventful minutes, nearly without notice, with what was once a colorful and adventurous tour of the Front Range of the Rockies having turned grey through routine and repetition. By now I should be able to … [read more]
Notes From The Road
Road Notes UAL 5364 STL to DEN Notes scribbled in an airport restaurant at Lambert St. Louis airport. 1. Visiting our facility in rural Missouri today, right off the Missouri River and the Lewis and Clark Trail, I was struck that I grew up on the Columbia River, right off the Lewis and Clark Trail. … [read more]
Rules of the Universe
Twenty Rules of the Universe That I’ve Discovered So Far: A Work in Progress 1. Anything you work at and practice, whether a valuable skill or a bad habit, you will become increasingly adept at. Anything. Be careful what you do more than once. 2. When you find someone who really loves you, it’s a … [read more]
Deportees
Deportees I. Jack looked down at his watch. “Shit, only ten-thirty. Six hours to go,” he thought. It was over a hundred degrees already. There wasn’t a cloud in the broad, blue, desert sky. Translucent waves of heat rose from the parched brown hills, the languid river and the barren scablands appear as if seen … [read more]
Sleepless in Tianjin
Note: Zhàozhōu Cōngshĕn (Japanese: Jōshū Jūshin, 778 to 897) was a Chan, or Zen master best known for the classic koan, “Mu”: A monk asked Zhàozhōu , “Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?”. Zhàozhōu answered, “Mu!”, roughly translated as “no” or “not”. For hundreds of years, students have wrestled with this “Mu!” The author plans … [read more]
Dog Killer
Dog Killer It began like a baby crying, like many crying babies and like dogs barking. He awoke and sat up, suddenly aware of his heartbeat and the sounds outside. The room was cool and gray. At 6:00 a.m., the summer sun had topped the ridge and the rocky desert mountains lay bleached and baked. … [read more]