During a recent cross country road trip I witnessed one tire blow out, saw no less than four abandoned boat trailers, and was bottlenecked around a flaming pickup truck hauling a camper, upside down and jackknifed against the guardrail, with a breadcrumb trail of clothing and beach toys and trash marking its path of destruction.

I once had a dog who could tell time. More reliable than the network news, her Lassie-like prancing back and forth between the food bowl and the cupboard where her food was kept always told us it was five o’clock. “Who’s hungry?” always brought barks and a fierce tail-wagging that enthusiastically rocked her hairy body. […]

He didn’t want to do it. The job he’d been asked to paled in comparison to his passions and hobbies, fields where he was already making a name for himself. This job was repetitive, strenuous, obscure, boring and pathetic – a stranglehold. Yet when his father asked, he had to answer. He reluctantly said yes. […]

I think I have swine flu. Not really, I feel fine (well, I am a little achy) – but with all the global health warnings, it has crossed my mind. There’s just something about a pandemic that makes people nervous. I’m reminded of a former coworker who contracted every calamity reported on the nightly news […]

Ahh, sunshine! This particularly sunny morning revealed dust in places where the sun usually don’t shine – at least it hasn’t shone all winter – bringing to light the fingerprints on the furniture and billowing drifts of dog hair under the dining room table. So I started spring cleaning. I moved furniture, shook out rugs, […]