White Horse Circle

Most of us have events that echo through the corridors of our lives. Thirty, forty, and fifty years later, it remains like a rhythm track beating at an intersection from a car seven cars ahead. Playing loud in the chain of stopped autos at the red light. You can't make out the song, but you …

Stream of Consciousness Saturday -Jam Session

At Bob and Chris's place Saturday was a get together jam session featuring whoever showed up. Bob and Chris' repertoire featured many Irish, Scottish and folk pieces which they sang to Bob's guitar accompaniment. I can still see them gazing loveingly into each other's eyes as they sang. Bob ultra serious and Chris with a …

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Shock Jock

We all edit our lives. Some chapters become suspiciously short; others bulk out with sensuous feelings, tragedy, comedy, and love. Some of us do such a good job of editing that entire chapters are elided with surgical precision. Not long ago, I read the obituary of a formerly close friend. His biography was complete, except …

Trudy

You might have noticed that the literature on road trips lacks many long-winded entries on winter jaunts. Let's say that pristine snow and frozen feet do not inspire depositions on the glory of being on the road again. Most smart Pius Itinerants find a pleasant place to lodge for the stinky season and travel by …

The Old Backpack

Some people are hoarders; their homes are just aisles of "stuff." My mother was the opposite; she was Marie Kondo on steroids. As a result, I only possess two small items from my youth: my guitar, Charlie, and a miniature sculpting I did in school. Honestly, it was fortunate for my mother that she did …

On Stage? Me?

A quick look at my hands shows that the nails on the left hand are clipped close, while those on the right are longer. It's been that way since I was twelve and took up the guitar. At age thirteen, I got up and sang an original composition at the local talent show and got …

The Brooks Brothers Suit

I always tried hard to be off the road before Thanksgiving. By that point, travel by thumb was becoming a chancy proposition. And camping out in the woods required more than a pancho and a few blankets.But I had a need, one November first. I had to be in a middling size city in Connecticut …

Blue in the Corners

When I left El Paso, I was roaring drunk. The entire trip had been a frolicking detour to see an old Navy buddy and his wife. The visit had been too much of a success to some extent. I'd met up with Shara, fallen fast, and could not get up.  Years later, an old Patti …

Really? – Flashback Friday from August 16, 2021

Louis N Carreras photo

Physicians, lawyers, and advice columnists are always suspicious of those seemingly acting as conduits for others,” my friend has this itch.” It’s a sure sign that the speaker has an issue, but they can’t come out and admit that it’s there. As an anthropologist, woodcarver and videographer, I had always assumed that I had nothing …

Walking to Paradise

I had a friend who was a failed Jesuit. At some point in seminary, he became a bit too unhinged, and he had to leave. However, the seminary experience continued to be a persuasive but perverted influence on his life.Here is an example: In Mathew, there is a text that runs: "And if thy foot …