pursuit of happiness takes work
Pursuit of happiness is my American right. Thomas Jefferson wrote it into our Constitution, along with Life, and Liberty. ‘Unalienable rights” given by our Creator to be protected by our government. For decades I thought I just had to want it, and happiness would magically appear without strings. I didn’t have to work for it. Continue reading “what is pursuit of happiness?” »
prayers for us all
fitting new faith on top of my old Continue reading “trust” »
smoking weed started off as fun
Lindy was my best friend in junior high and I spent the night with her almost every weekend. Her room had double French doors with brass handles opening onto a tiny porch, enough for two sleeping bags. I memorized the sparkling Richardson Bay skyline looking out toward Sausalito streetlights. Standing like the Supremes, we practiced Stop In The Name Of Love, moving in unison like we were on stage, synchronizing arm movements, making stop, like Diana Ross. Continue reading “loose cannons” »
birds in flight
William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I . Continue reading “what is coming?” »
Lindy’s house was like a mansion
Lindy was my best friend from the day I met her in junior high school. I was the tallest kid in school, shy, and full-on puberty chunky. Lindy was short and stocky, and ran with popular kids from her elementary school. I copied her, and we hung out on weekends with her sisters and their friends, smokers and wine drinkers. Continue reading “Feeling like a poor relation” »
beautiful moon
The first time I really gazed at the moon was when I lived a hippie life in an Southern Oregon cabin on Coleman Creek. My friends and I rented a little red house with woodstove and outhouse in the middle of the woods. Continue reading “moon gazing” »
dysfunctional families are like mobiles
American parents are supposed to train children to handle life, and deal with problems. The big families of our past assigned children to raise each other. Older sister takes care of younger ones, and the oldest one paves the way. Continue reading “thinking through craziness” »
haunting history
My brother played the bagpipes with The Prince Charles Pipe Band. He walked Ring Mountain playing his pipes at sunset, as if he belonged in Scotland. Neighbors remind me of his haunting silhouette during those years. Since he didn’t live to be an adult, bagpipes remain for me as a symbol of love and strength and loss. Continue reading “bagpipes, love and loss” »
reaching into cobwebs can be creepy
I dreamt I was cleaning out two old houses where I once lived. In real life, I did not live in either of the two houses, but that’s how it goes in the dream world. The primary image of this dream is finding a wall with pushpins of special jewelry, a silver cross, a couple of turquoise pendant necklaces hanging down. I reach for the cross, under thick blobs of stingy cobwebs, and they get onto my face. “EWWW!” I woke with a gasp, feeling gross and icky. Continue reading “webs and faith” »
first crop 2015
Last night I dreamt I was in a rehab, no particular type. I’m sitting in a straight back chair with a binder full of notes on my lap, deciding what to keep and toss. A surfer type of middle-age man enters the room, complaining how he struggles with his girlfriend, how their relationship is different because he is in rehab.
I said, “Since you’ve made your statement in a public place, I feel ok giving my opinion. It seems to me you need to change your behavior in order to change your thinking.”
Then I woke up. Continue reading “behaving like an adult” »