Every Good Morning

I’m painting the doors white. They were last painted 20 years ago when my former principal, now newly retired, arrived with his son to tear off the old metal gateway that had probably been up since some long gone owner had kept sheep there. They replaced it with two shiplap doors they made themselves and painted black. It held against the brunt of northwest storms, against who knows how many […]

I have been thinking about New Mexico every day since my friend Tony, a resident, visited for the Reunion. He brought me two books as gifts and one of those books, The Walk by William deBuys, has helped me remember my time there — two visits, maybe 3 weeks altogether out of 68 years. My wife spent an additional 2 weeks near Santa Fe painting. We have no plans to move now […]

Each morning I stand in good light and hold an Amsler Grid Vision Card about a foot from my eyes. I cover and close each eye in turn, and I focus on the center black dot with each eye in turn. Each morning I trust that all of the grid will remain clear outside the hard focal point of the dot. I am to call my doctor immediately if blind […]

I do not know where the thread is. No, that’s not it. I see the threads scattered across my imagination’s landscapes, but those threads are in motion, changing colors and lengths, skittering about. No, I don’t know which thread to choose. All are of equal importance. All are tied to pressing concerns, to matters of life and death, to the survival of democracy, to the survival of flora and fauna, […]