So it was my turn to visit, and my friend since Junior High school told me to fly to the state of Washington and visit him on the Hood Canal. I’ve never been to Washington State, and I learned that the Hood Canal is a 68 mile salt water fjord, that is an L-shaped arm of the Puget Sound, sitting between the Olympic Peninsula to the west and the Kitsap Peninsula to the east. It is popular for Kayaking, Read More

Suzy-Q She was alone in the ice cream shop, eating her bowl of cookies and cream Ice cream, and her eyes did not waiver from the black and white notebook she was reading. As usual, men stared, and she ignored them, because this was standard male behavior, and occasionally one of them would muster up the courage to ask for her number and they would strike out, because she was selective with her men, extremel Read More

Carson’s Stream of Consciousness Memory Stick Although a whirlwind of strategically fired words and run-on sentences wound up into a super-shortened stream of consciousness void of proper punctuation may present a danger of jumbling your brain, it may also tickle your gyrating brain cells in a way that feels like you’ve been released into an ethereal world of wonder and exhilaration tempered by the ques Read More

The Lonely Shoe Part Two I looked around, made sure no one was watching —saw no one, except of course for the ever-present security cameras, took a deep breath, puffed out my chest, said to myself what the hell, and picked up the damn brand-new Skecher running shoe. And as soon as I did that, I felt a feeling of dread circling around my brain, like a shark preparing for the kill of a curious seal — r Read More

The Lonely Shoe I was walking into a medical office building and to my left, on a metal bench, sat a single athletic shoe.  I thought that was a strange sight, you know, just a single shoe, all alone, in the middle of a bench, without its’ mate so it could be worn by someone without causing an awkward limp.  It looked brand new, not a speck of wear and tear on it – a Sketcher brand running shoe.  Read More

Ollie and The Kid “Did you read the assignment, and prepare, as I told you?” “Yes colonel.  It was hard —stayed up all night reading about WWII.  Hardest thing I ever did.  I had no idea how damn close we were to losing out country then.  That was a shit war of hell.” “That’s for sure, Jerome.  But tell me, what was the most interesting fact about your reading?” Read More

The Last of the Mohicans I never read this classic novel, set in 1757 during the French and Indian war, set in upstate New York and written by The American Novelist James Fenimore Cooper.   However, now, it seems it may have become a part of me now, and I am curious why. Recently, a few weeks ago, a friend of mine who was born in Europe and emigrated the legal way to the United States, told me Read More

Independence Day, July 4 Most Americans understand that Independence Day, July 4, 1776 was the day the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. It’s a day of celebration, cookouts, beer, loud music, family gatherings and at least in the past — fireworks.  However, at least in my state, fireworks are extremely dangerous due to the high fire dang Read More

Respect.  I give Ollie space and respect, and he does the same for me.  Tomorrow is that third Sunday in June that I pretend doesn’t exist anymore. I am off work and not sure what I will do, maybe meet a friend for coffee, but thankfully I will be having some night hospital duties to keep my mind busy and not entangled in a jumbled cauldron of remote but pleasant memories filled with swollen pride as w Read More

Ollie Comes Back “Come to the Alpine Haus Bar, 6 pm.  Come alone. Bring some paper or a computer or whatever you writer-types use.” “Who is this?” No one calls me on a Sunday, unless I guess it’s an emergency and I’m on call.  Seems everyone is quiet on Sunday, and maybe that’s what we should be on Sunday:  quiet and reverent.  And of course, emails are frowned upon.& Read More