(Not So) Mad Scientists

A kid scientist in the lab

We often work on our projects in secret, tinkering in a lab with the door closed.

As the project develops, our thoughts become visible, like mazes of pipes running in all directions, quaking and smoking.

With such a spectacle circling the room, it’s difficult to open the door… Read more...

Send For Love

Love emoji

Sometimes, we think too big when we’re trying to change the world.

Texting is an easy way to deliver some gratitude (and, yes, hope) into the darkness.

Send a loving text or two in the morning — nothing but thanks and admiration. It feels good to thumb-type your appreci… Read more...

Invisible Enemies

White and red click pen on white printer paper

Scummy scammers scammed my mom.

A modern-day tongue twister, which certainly has me twisted up inside.

It’s an empty feeling watching a bank account balance dwindle and getting nothing in return.

It was easy for me to hate the guy hidden away in a sweaty room with dirty keyboa… Read more...

Future Clogs & Such Things

Gray surface

Neighbors are great for impromptu chats, standing in the street with dogs, with trash bags, with full bottles of wine (I had a French neighbor once).

Dave noticed the pipes that had just shown up running along my fence, down the garden, and letting out onto the sidewalk.

“Ar … Read more...

A Little Light Left

Light through hole in dark room

Her church was the first to call.

“She’s forgetting things.”

It was sort of blamey, at least that’s how I took it — me, one of two sons, 22 hours away. Or two flights and a long shuttle ride, which has to be coordinated ahead of time.

The last time I we… Read more...

The Message

Hazels Ceiling Fan

I’m reading a book in bed with my 8-year-old. It’s meant for 9-year-olds, but that’s not why I’m reading it to her. I’m reading it because it’s one of the only books my 18-year-old (the older one) liked. And I never read it with her. It was her… Read more...

One Less of Us

Although I was hoping for it to happen all week, it sort of happened organically.

“Ow!” I heard Evaline say through the wall, which made me stop typing.

She came into my office.

“I stepped on a tack. Do you still have that cup of thumbtacks?”

I pointed to my c… Read more...

What’s It All About?

Person standing on a rock in the sea

It’s hard to live.

Our brains are well-developed. We’re a thinking species; not always a good thing. We’re a long way from being content just sitting on a mossy rock. After 5 minutes of one thing, we feel an urge to move on, to find a reason to make us grow. And … Read more...

Repainting Memories

Multicolored abstract painting

When I was in 5th grade, I wore my mom’s clip-on earrings to school.

Actually, they were my gramma’s earrings, that kind of old, decorative jewelry with the plastic jewels where the metal doesn’t really shine.

It wasn’t meant to be a statement. I just kinda … Read more...