Modern Stories of the Way

“Another Really Dumb Plan for Health Care Reform” September 20, 2017 The Graham-Cassidy bill to replace Obamacare is making the rounds in Washington, DC.  While the nation’s attention is focused on recovery efforts for Hurricane Harvey in Texas and surrounds, recovery from Hurricane Irma in Florida and Hurricane Maria tearing up Puerto Rica and the [...]

“Thoughts on San Antonio” Sitting on the balcony overlooking the San Antonio River, I paused to observe a young couple walking down the sidewalk.  They were walking single file, the woman in front of the man, about 5 paces between.  Both were looking at their cell phone, entranced it seemed at the stream of information [...]

“Watching a Hurricane” September 11, 2017 Sitting in my upstairs room in the dark while the wind blows so strong, I am writing this essay on paper, not a computer screen.  This pretty much summarizes the dilemma of so many of us across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina tonight.  The arrival of Hurricane Irma in [...]

“Barbecue in Madison, Wisconsin” For Gretchen My son, Ben, moved to Madison, Wisconsin this past week to start a new job.  I joined him for the ride up, about 17 hours driving on the road in a U-Haul van with a car carrier attached.  It is truly remarkable that a person can move half way [...]

“How Much Rubbing for a Kitty? Having some time tonight with not so much work, I thought to ponder the question which goes to the larger meaning of life:  “How much rubbing for a kitty is enough rubbing?”  (NO, this is not about sex.) Having spent a great many hours sitting before my computer typing, [...]

“Fire and Fury” August 10, 2017 Hiroshima August 6, 1945    Nagasaki – August 9, 1945    70+ years after the A bomb. Having listened to many words this week flung back and forth across the globe, while good people of many countries, children of God, like lambs awaiting the slaughter, wait… It gives me pause to [...]

“A Real Potato Chip” After making my tomato sandwich for the evening, I went to find some real potato chips.  It was hot today, and I sweat out a lot of water, so I was craving something salty.  Even with gator-aide, or the newer Power Aide drinks, sometimes I need some salty potato chips to [...]

“"Going to the Dogs" Saturday is cleaning day at our house, which means I do everything possible to be somewhere else on this day.  Saturdays are excellent for outdoor projects of many kinds, bush hogging pasture, mowing grass, or just generally planning for the next Saturday’s project.  It took me almost two hours this afternoon [...]

“One of These Days” “Do you see that grass near the flower pot near the front steps?”  “Yes, I said.”  Then I replied, “One of these days, when I have time…”  This is when my wife erupted and said, “Why don’t you write a story about that?”  I suppose this is due to her frustration [...]

“A Willys Jeep, 1946 Model CJ-2A” The Willys Jeep, model CJ2A was produced by Willys-Overland from 1945-1949.  A total of 214,760 of this model were produced (per History and Technical Specs, http://www.kaiserwillys.com).  My grandfather owned one of these civilian jeeps, produced at the end of WWII.  He used it as a rural mail carrier as [...]