Photos Are Just Memories Out Of Context

Last week on one of my afternoon walks I decided to walk down to Chapman Lake Park. This is a small neighborhood located off of Chapman Lake, one of the many lakes that surround the area where I live. As a kid Chapman Lake Park was located directly across the field from the house I […]

Memorial Day Thoughts(Pending Graduation Edition)

Last Wednesday was the last band concert at Warsaw Community High School. The last for our son, and the last for us. No more marching band competitions, winter programs, winter percussion, or spring concerts. Summer band camps and the sunburns that came with it are in the past, as well as those preview shows that […]

“Oh, this is a dangerous place…”

So for the last couple weeks I’ve been hitting the pavement hard each day. Counting my steps and miles walked. During the day at work I’ll walk on two breaks, then after work I’ll put in three to four more miles. I’m locking in at least 7 to 8 miles a day with over 12,000 […]

5 am

The house is as quiet as it ever gets at 5 am. A darkly-lit vacuum where the only sound that can be heard is the coffeemaker if I remembered to set it the night before. Not even when they were little did our kids get up this early. My wife doesn’t get up until 6:30 […]

Take A Walk

I was never much of a runner. Or, a runner at all. As a kid in gym I was usually the last to finish the mile, with the exception of one or two others in class. I never completely stopped running, but I would slow to a jog or speed walk while holding my side […]

If All Else Fails, Be Kind

I’ve learned something over the last few months, and that is that people can be good. It’s much easier to see differences; political, religious, ideological, social, and just automatically build a protective shell between you and them. I’ve done it. It’s natural to protect yourself from those you view as the “enemy”. Some folks can […]

Hello From Wherever This Is

Hey. Yeah, I’ve been a little absent this week. Call it mental fatigue, preoccupation, or just a lack of hard drive space in the brain to sit and write, I just haven’t been in the right place to expound on albums or tell more Midwest tales of growing up. Sometimes things happen and you start […]

Weird Things On Shelves Are What Life Is

Been awhile since I’ve sat down to just empty the old brain of all the clutter that’s accumulated. Have I been too busy for the mental upkeep? I don’t know, maybe. I doubt that, though. Even at my most time-lacking moments I’ve made space to sit and click and clack on the keyboard to release […]

I love You, But Don’t Invite Me To Anything

There comes a time in one’s life when you’ve got to take stock of those “responsibilities” we put on ourselves in regards to staying in contact with family, friends, and acquaintances. When we’re younger it’s instilled in us by our parents that family is family. There’s a function, you should go. So we go, whether […]

Is This Long Covid?(Or Am I Just Sad?)

I’ve been in a bit of a rut, lately. Ever since that bout of Covid a little over a month ago I just haven’t felt, well, normal. There are days when I feel okay. I started to go to the Y a week afterwards and got in two days before I tapped out. Just wasn’t […]