Category Archives: Uncategorized

A few nights agotwo planets appeared(from our rooted earthlyvantage point) to snuggleeach other, separated bythe width of a pencil eraserheld up at arm’s length. I missed it, thanks to clouds,but, I thought, no biggie—kissing, while a charmingnotion, is a bit … Continue reading →

for Pat and Dee They twoand we two,born to two siblingswho hailed from Illinois— we share the samegrandparents, we twoolder girls and twoyounger girls, so much family historybetween us, so manyphotographs the oldertwo have dredged up toshare with the younger … Continue reading →

Rain bucketing, pummelingthe park where, on the concreteedge of the flooded baseballfield-turned-wading-pool, standsa boy, his skateboard flippedvertical, resting against his calflike a loyal dog, watching. At some signal from his inneradventurer, the boy flips the boardhorizontal with his foot and … Continue reading →

for Dev Berger The trick on a walkin between winter stormsis to open to the sunny dayat the same time a friendhas joined you and talkcommences. You try to listen morethan you speak, thoughit’s just a mile to lunchdown a … Continue reading →

(for Lisa Morgan… happy birthday!) It’s a kind of birth canal,every tunnel we enter,imagining, if not seeing,the proverbial light atwhat might or might notbe the end. So much growth occurs,rich nourishment receivedin this final bit of gestation. We want to … Continue reading →

(for Gay Morgan, raccoon feeder extraordinaire) I see them scurrying up the drivewayas I pull in—two fat-bottomed girlswho’ve been munching on the dry foodon the porch bowl, because I expectthat the night visitors will findwhatever the neighbor cats don’t. You … Continue reading →

though I didn’t see it then,muddled in grief and regret,unable to recognize anythingbut the gone-ness of her. And it took time—far too long,it seemed—to absorb the here-nessof her, still so present if I couldlet my mind to drift her waywithout … Continue reading →

—for Richard L. Tracy,garden editor, The Sacramento Bee (ret.) Our hero in so many ways—comical and horticultural,good person of the earth. Dear friend, father, husband,fine writer and photographer,raconteur, he of the wicked wit,has announced his imminentdeparture. And we wonder if,just … Continue reading →

(for Donna Gail) Maybe because we flatlanders shiverunder skies delivering rare bitsof snow, while our neighbors2,500 feet higher have been toldto expect eight inches tomorrowand ten inches the next day,which is far from usual for them, and maybe because every … Continue reading →

(a nod to Shel Silverstein) But, really, who else could you be?You have to be you, as I have to be me. If I tried to be you, I surely could not,nor would I want to be. For you are … Continue reading →