I missed the 80's. Not miss the 80's, just plain missed them. They didn't beckon me or have much to do with who I became.

I guess I was too young to slow down and appreciate the decade. I just dove headlong pell mell into being married and starting up.

Here's the only… Read full post »

I met Mark Twain again.

It's been nearly 117 years since he came through town in the flesh. That was early August in 1895. He was on the first leg of a long journey of lectures that would take him across the ocean and through countries that most who heard him… Read full post »

It's always something. This time I need to stop feeding the birds and having firewood stacked in the side yard. 

About three weeks ago I came home in the dark and right there in the front of the house, up in the Vine Maple was a rat. Rattas rattus to be… Read full post »

The news this morning is that two of the greatest Rhythm & Blues musicians of all time have passed away. Johnny Otis, most famous  I suppose as the singer of the doo-wop hit "Willie and the Hand Jive" is gone at age 90.

Etta James, is probably best known for a… Read full post »

Trees and stones.

Most everywhere I turn are trees, ferns, boulders and pebbles.  Some are natural, their growth part of a bigger scheme, set where they are without my input. Outside my office are some planted by landscapers. The birds can’t really tell they are plants native to another c/… Read full post »

   I won’t make it to the OS party Saturday tonight. If the doomsayers are correct it could be the last New Year’s Eve blast ever. End of Times predictions and all that. Not worried about it myself but just in case, we went to a big party last night with… Read full post »

          I put this off for awhile because it was difficult to come up with seven things I don’t like.  Not because there aren’t at least seven, but because if I don’t like them I don’t want to think/… Read full post »

I turn 60 today.

I thought that when I turned 60 it would be a day to celebrate accomplishments, to look back at the successes and a few failures that greeted me along the way.The ones that made up my fabric and defined me would be easy to separate from the others.… Read full post »

Mid-day deep in the forest in the Pacific Northwest, cirrostratus clouds formed with microscopic ice crystals. Somehow through magic and science, borne of providence or serendipity, or the unlikely combination of them all, sunlight made itself known .

The scientists tell… Read full post »

“one thousand stars i’ve wished upon

then dreamt  ‘til morning’s nigh

midst conquered fears and fleeting truths

they glint upon mine eye”

   Miss Barkley wrote the verse in flawless cursive on the black board and… Read full post »

Eight feet out my window at work is a little peak at nature seldom seen. I'm guessing that since in about a month I'll hit 60 and I've never seen it.

Maybe a hundred feet out is a creek. It runs another three hundred feet in a white water tumble into… Read full post »

  This is a re-post from 2010 in response to the open call to write an essay about one's "father as a person". This only touches on but a few of his characteristics.

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I came home from my Dad's final resting place&nbs… Read full post »

Another year has passed and I find myself at times still thinking to reach for the phone. Mom might like to have me read her part of this article I just read. Mom would think this is a funny headline. Mom would know if you’re really supposed to put butter on a burn,… Read full post »

Not much of a post.

Got here two years ago today. 

 Third lap starts now.

Going to give it try. Read full post »

Merry Christmas to all.

And a special thanks to those who bring a measured thought to these pages.

Be well and safe. Read full post »

I came home from my Dad's final resting place , laid down and wrote this piece in my head. The next morning I pounded it out on my old Royal typewriter. I kept the now yellowed pages and will share it here today . Through the miracle of modern technology I can also… Read full post »

 I’ll jump in. Here’s 10.   

1.   What is your favorite word?   Onomatopoeia.  It sounds like something.

2.   What is your least favorite word? Fired.

3.   What turns you on? Actually fin… Read full post »

I meant to call.

I picked up the phone to tell you the hummingbirds were starting to show up. They move so fast down by the alders next to the creek that it seems they may not have even been there when I glance back to see them again. The aviary… Read full post »

It’s not always true. The rumors of incompatibility are greatly exaggerated.

Twenty years ago, maybe it was twenty five, the back yard called out for change. It was easy enough to decide from the window looking down, the one next to the pedestal sink where the morning gets into gear after… Read full post »

It seemed like a good idea at first, to wait by the turnstile for my visitor. But, why would this stranger appear right then, at such an inopportune moment, distracting me with all manner of extraneous details about their train which had not arrived yet? I took it to mean that… Read full post »

December 31,2009

The First Post of mine, trivial as I have seen by any was made 01/01/09.

This first year cruising the site, making some friends along the way and enjoying the passion of many is wrapping up today. An interesting read it has been.

I hope to have time in… Read full post »

In a show of strength, the OS editors have decided to revoke Steve Blevins weekend pass and will see to it that he remains committed to the asylum from which he wrote yesterday. Spurning constant requests to the contrary and in an effort to make OS look and feel like an… Read full post »

Here's my contribution to the game today. Two are true and one is not.

1.) I worked backstage with a magician in college and learned the secret (won't be able to tell however) of the most often used technique to make levitation appear to be real.

2.) I have had the… Read full post »

I am an independent contractor sort which means I am in an environment full of others of the same ilk. It's hard to get fired because it just costs the company. It also makes it doubly hard to remain tactful. I guess that is second nature  to those who are "employed".… Read full post »

You didn't have to like him  or his politics to listen. The sonorous quality of Paul Harvey's voice and his never failing hook at the segue just made you want to listen.

Bloggers here and everywhere could learn from his style. It had human interest. It had a flavor that couldn't… Read full post »