Sunday Afternoon Stories

 Good morning, everyone! I'm sorry I missed yesterday's posting. I had planned a stirring commentary on washing the dishes, but I was busy washing the dishes. Now that ship has passed and I'll circle back to it some other time when I wake up in the morning to finally clean my plates before heading into work. (I've been really bad about getting the dishes clean lately, so it might be a few days.) Apparently, the topic on the minds of every American is how gymnast Simone Biles dropped out of the all-around competition in the Olympics citing mental health issues. This, and when the tennis player dropped out of the French open points to an odd trend in sports, and, of course, everything from generational to cultural politics. Remember when sports used to just be about playing games? Me neither. Personally, it doesn't affect me one wit whether these young women compete or not. When someone drops out, there will be someone behind them to take their place and find their ow...

 Is it wrong on me to be happy to be back in the office on a Monday morning? It's just nice to be here sitting in a chair that's attuned to my posterior, completing tasks that are low-impact on all my joints. It's not that I'm complaining or anything, but weekend yard work really sucks. Because of the rain we've been getting, the property needs a proper mowing about every other day. I know some of my friends who live in more damp places of the world are probably wondering what I'm complaining about - stuff always grows where you are. But I live in New Mexico, dammit, where the landscape is a broad range of brown. What's this green shit I've been seeing lately? Plants growing? Who would have ever thought something like that was possible. Over the weekend, I did my best to keep up with yard chores at two houses. I'm not unsatisfied with what I got accomplished, but I did notice the tendonitis on my left elbow was flaring up last night and I woke unable...

 Good morning! Did you happen to catch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this morning? I did, kind of by mistake. And I actually didn't watch the whole thing. When the alarm went off at 5 a.m., I rolled over and turned on the television to catch the weather report. What appeared was a bunch of dancers doing their jobs among a bunch of laser lights. NBC host Savannah Guthrie informed me that what the dancers and the lights represented was the arteries pumping blood to the muscles of the athletes, or some such thing. I know it was early, but it appeared to me that NBC wasn't doing too great of a job with their camera angles. What was being shown was closeups of dancers in dark lighting. That wasn't too bothersome, but the inane chatter of the hosts was what me turn the channel to where I could find the weather. (Apparently, I should bring an umbrella with me today.) Once I had a chance to start thinking, my brain turned its attention over to the Olympics and wondered why...

 I read in the paper this morning - yes, some of us still read a newspaper - that a cold winter in Brazil may mean that coffee crops will less beans. That means the cost of your cup will go up; as if the cost of everything else wasn't going up. I'm not sure what this will mean for coffee drinkers. I couldn't even tell you how much a cup of coffee costs, although I hear places like Starbucks charge too much. I don't know these things because I don't like coffee and don't buy it. If you come for dinner at my house it is a guarantee that you will not get a cup of coffee after your meal. It's not that I'm trying to be rude, I just never think that's something I should serve until it comes to that point in the meal. The habits of coffee drinkers baffle and amuse me. Some that I know claim to love the taste of coffee, but I think that is societal pressure. People can't actually love something that tastes like what water would taste like it you could bu...

 Good morning, I made it into the office a little early this morning, which is kind of unusual because I woke up late. Amazing the time you can make up when you skip breakfast. Our office building is a pretty nice place and my second story cubicle looks out into a courtyard shaded by trees and other greenery. The centerpiece of the courtyard is a fountain, which had been broken until just recently. Another feature recent feature of the courtyard is a homeless guy who seems to be carrying on a conference call throughout the day. He has no phone, if you get my drift. For some reason, I kind of equate him to the prairie dogs that have taken up residence on my property at home. I'm not offended at the prairie dogs' existence and they have as much right to live their lives in any manner they see fit. But I'm not real thrilled they have chosen my front yard as their home. It's the same way with this guy now living in our courtyard at the office. I do have empathy for anyone w...

It doesn’t take long living on the big, blue marble to realize that our lives are all governed by a series of routines. Some of us are more flexible than others when the routines go off the rails, and still others enjoy shaking things up and have as few routines as possible. One of the best explanations I read about routine was that we as humans do the same thing time after time – like getting ready in the morning – because by doing a task over and over and over we get into the habit of not even thinking about what we are doing. That means we free our minds to think about more important things. Or in my case, just about anything. Like talcum powder. I'm not sure if any of you are like me, but my middle-aged body has some cracks and crevices that tend to get ... moist. And like sitting on Naugahyde - which is uppercased because it is a brand name - human skin does like to stick to itself. I don't seem to remember this problem so much when I was younger, but I hold comfort ...

 Hello from the Desert Southwest, Although lately it doesn't feel that way. We've been hit by monsoon rains for the past couple of weeks, so everything is tinted green instead of brown and there is mud all over everything. It's getting to the point where I have to pull out the lawn mower every other day to keep the homestead from becoming a jungle. I know I shouldn't complain - at least that's what everyone says. "We need the rain." I suppose so. At the very least, the summer rains are a good reminder as to why I live in the desert. You see, when it rains the plants grow, which, lets be honest here, are mostly just weeds. This, in turn, brings out the the bugs. Currently, we are experiencing a biblical infestation of flies and I'm sure the next round will be mosquitos. Seriously, it's almost never this green. The newly green and growing weeds also put off pollen that my sinuses tell me are not at all welcome. For the past week or so, my head has fe...

 Hi everyone! My posting is a little late today, mostly because I've pretty much been a lump on the couch all day. I honestly had intended to get more writing done today, but a sinus headache sent me to a horizontal position most of the morning. I was just lazy the rest of the day. But the need of some items sent me over to Walgreen's, so with my standard Sunday uniform of a T-shirt and khaki shorts, I headed out. "Welcome back, sir!" the woman at the store said when I walked in. "You seem pretty sure that I've been here before," I responded with a smile. She laughed as if I was pulling her leg. "How did that charger work?" she asked. Ah, so she thought I was someone else. This has happened before. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else," I said. We had a brief conversation about how some guy had been in earlier to get a charger for his phone and that he looked and dressed just like me. This guy looks like someone you might kn...

 A good Saturday should never be wasted. This one is especially nice, the weather is calm and cool for a mid July morning. Outside, you can hear crickets chirping still. Across the road - and in my own little pasture - the prairie dogs are barking out warnings to each other about the two hawks that continually circle. The animals around my house in the country have no concept of the weekend, their days are pretty much the same from one until the next. The only subtle differences come in their innate knowledge that soon the days will turn from summer to fall and then to winter. It's easy to be reflective on such a morning, but I have more important things to do. Chores. I have garbage I need to take to the dump and the recent rains have encouraged the weeds to grow at an alarming rate, so the weed wacker will be fired up and I will do battle. There are some dishes from breakfast that need to be washed and in a little bit I have to go over to my father's widow's house to look...

 Good morning everyone! I know it has been a while since last you heard from me. I think that comes from not working from home anymore. When I have to come into the office, it's a whole production of getting myself in shape to face public scrutiny. That involves bathing, brushing my teeth and getting clothes on. It's not like I don't do that when I work from home, it's just that there isn't the sense of urgency. Then there is the 45-minute commute. All of that adds up to time that could be spent writing these little daily observations. In truth, I should take the time to do this every day. It sets me on the path to a nice day if I can spend a moment or two reflecting on things. It puts me in a good frame of mind for the day ahead. Sometimes, I even come up with something that equates to depth. Not today, though. I started my day off with the end of a cheesy Robby Benson movie called "Ice Castles." I had fallen asleep last night with the television on and I...