The big C, not so big My sister Laura wrote the following haiku (and the above title) for me. I find myself cheered by it, even as I gear up for lung cancer surgery on February 9. Doctors work for you You are the warlord, sister Kill the cancer cells I was even moved to […]
Category: Musings about Language and Life
My version of “what’s it all about anyway?”
So what’s next?
It’s transition time. Right now, I’m thinking that I am tired of having jobs that have me travelling all over the state of Alaska. Some of the places I go to, it would be faster and easier to get to the opposite coast. So here I sit, listening to Joni Mitchell singing, “I could drink […]
Frogging my colorwork, and other lofty pursuits
Sometimes, a person just has to start over. First, however, a digression by way of exposition: The terms “frogging” and “colorwork” come from the fine art of knitting. “Colorwork” is an un-obtuse term meaning when you make a pattern with different colors and keep having to pick up a different strand of yarn. “Frogging,” on […]
Monsters in the house
(I wrote this when my boys were small.) My house is full of monsters, Of every shape and size. Most have extra legs, And some have many eyes. They hide behind the curtains; They creep across the floor. . . And here’s the really strange thing: We got them at the store! You see, they’re […]
Of floating rocks and other natural phenomena
Younger Son and I were taking a walk by the harbor when he remarked on a boat with a concrete hull. “I always wondered how those things float,” he said. Then we mentioned that section of a floating (concrete) bridge that had its first life in the Seattle area, and that continues to float outside […]
Some thoughts about seatbelts
“Now, everybody pay attention. You put the flat end into the buckle, then pull on the loose end to tighten. To release. . .” Oh, how many times have I heard this speech? When flying from Ketchikan to Anchorage, which is something I do with some regularity, I hear it no less than four […]
How ’bout now?
I’ve got to kick this addiction to my media devices. Here’s an example of the depth of my pathology. First I check my email on my phone. (Periodically I remove the email app from my phone, but I always put it back promptly.) Second, I go to my laptop and check my email again, in […]
The mighty heart of the hummingbird
The other day I saw a hummingbird resting on a powerline near my house. The scale of bird to wire was unmistakable; I could see his tiny silhouette and, even in repose, his head was darting around as he watched for predators. This fellow does not consider himself to be small. Most days I don’t […]
In which the grammar police begin to lay about
The phrase “to lay about” is grammatically correct, but it’s not what you think. I understand why nobody gets the modern uses of “lie” and “lay” right, because you can’t teach them to middle schoolers without a national incident. Even high schoolers will snicker and snort and fail utterly to pay attention to the lesson. […]
Facebook is a big doofus
Some background information might be in order. In the early days I was a little slower than some to get a facebook account, but eventually I joined my friends in the land of “what’s on your mind?” From the get-go I had a love/hate relationship with social media, despising myself for spending hours mindlessly scrolling, […]