Battery Bank
I don’t know if I have a charging problem or just a weak battery, but lately I have been having trouble starting the bike. Not all the time; in fact, very rarely, but always when the weather is miserable, and I am trying to get home. It happened again yesterday. I had...
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A February Excursion
This story first appeared in International Sidecar Traveller #29 December, 2016 It’s been a cold winter, with temperatures in the single digits. Storm after storm has swept in from the ocean, dumping rain and snow across the Pacific Northwest. We've had some...
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Why I Am Not A Cat Person
It was one of those spells we get in January; a couple of weeks of clear, dry weather with the temperatures stuck in the teens. I had seen an ad in the paper for a BMW powered reverse trike up in The Dalles. I envisioned something like a Morgan. Two wheels in front,...
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January Rain
Five to five and the last patients have left the office. The doctors are finishing their dictation; the office staff have locked the doors, turned off the lights and gone home. I clean the surgical instruments and shut off the machines, flipping the breaker on the...
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New Years Solo Camp with Dogs
December 31, 2018 Sunset 4:33 PM January 1, 2019 Moonrise 3:28 AM, waning crescent Sunrise 7:49 AM I found myself at loose ends for New Year's Eve. Amy was in California visiting relatives and both my brothers were busy. I had to work that morning, but I had...
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Naughty Nuts and Bolts, a Creative Talents Unleashed anthology, available from Amazon
Three of my poems - Yes, You Are, Animal Nature, and Last Night I Heard Your Voice - appear in Naughty Nuts and Bolts, a Creative Talents Unleashed anthology, available from amazon.com, to be released February 14, 2019 VW "The theme of this anthology, is ......
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Twice Savored
This story first appeared in the Lit Select anthology Love Slave: Sizzle Vol.5 March 2016 Ralph walked across the lobby to the phone, then hesitated, turned to walk away but stopped again after a few steps. Ralph was nervous. He and Clarice hadn't spoken for years....
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Words
No matter how close you think you are to a person, there are things you can never say to them, neither truth nor fiction, not in earnest and certainly never in jest. Words can be a knife or more often, a cudgel. I knew that, but somehow chose to ignore it. I find...
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Mortality Waits
In the ominous gloom of predawn, behind and somewhere above the henhouse, an owl poses the question: “Who? Who, who?” Inside, the hens shuffle restlessly, murmuring their fears and discontent, unhappy to be awakened before sunup,...
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I Got Burned
When I look at photos of you from your youth, I laugh and say:"I got burned!"You do know I am just kidding?You were beautiful when we metand you are beautiful now.When I look at you I still see the beautiful woman I first met, all those...
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Rusty Nail – Praise & Treats
It has been an unseasonably dry winter. Up until Friday, when it started to snow. It has been snowing all weekend. Sunday morning it cleared, revealing a sparkling winter wonderland. With no pressing need to go anywhere, most people elected to stay home, off the...
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BBQ Sauce
I made this sauce for the rabbits at the last Bunny BBQ. I cut up and brined the rabbits for 9 hours, then rinsed and boiled them for 10 minutes. They were painted with BBQ sauce and frozen until the day before the party. I thawed them Friday, and put the meat in...
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Moussaka
The Food Stamp Gourmet by Wm. Brown has been out of print for years, but you can still find it on-line at a reasonable price. I have had my copy since the seventies; it contains some of my favorite recipes. Every so often, I pull it out and choose one of them....
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Moussaka Hand Pie
I made moussaka for dinner last night and had some left-over filling. Today I got out the pie-irons and made moussaka hand pies for lunch. Forcing the Greek pita bread into the buttered pie irons, I spooned some tomato paste over the pita, I filled it with the...
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Grandma Wade’s Mince Meat
Grandma Wade used to make mince meat pies for the holidays. She shared the recipe with Mom,and this delightfully sweet pie has been a treasured memory of mine for decades. The recipe is pretty labor intensive and contains your entire annual dietary allowance of fat in...
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