Long Johns and life
My friend and I kneel clumsily on the side of the altar in the early morning dark before school begins. Our shoes are covered by our black cassocks, which are [...]
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Posted January 03, 2024in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted December 06, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
The cost-of-concert blues
The tightly sealed cardboard box from the attic is an accumulation of orphaned items too dear to trash. There’s a first communion missal, a holy water font to hang on [...]
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Posted November 01, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
DIARY ENTRY — THANKSGIVING, NOV. 23, 2023
The cardboard box is tucked under the eaves in the attic. Spiderwebs and insulation cling to the top. Old baby beds and suitcases and containers of long-abused toys surround it. [...]
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Posted October 04, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Dog years
“Life expectancy at birth for women in the United States dropped 0.8 years from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.1 in 2021, while life expectancy for men dropped one full [...]
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Posted September 06, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Playing as an old man
Listen, this is truly going somewhere. I promise. But the journey requires that we play Candy Land, which means we have to get past Peppermint Forest and Gumdrop Mountains and [...]
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Posted August 02, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Antidote to going to hell in a hand basket
“We are all going to hell in a hand basket.” Really? Well, yes. Look around. Canadian fires to the north. Floods to the east. Dangerous heat extremes to the south. [...]
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Posted July 05, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Death comes in threes
My mom, born in rural Iowa during the depression, has certain rules that allow you to magically control the uncontrollable. I love it. For example, because the weather is fickle, [...]
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Posted May 31, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
The Irish Potato
So… what about the potato in Ireland? “You call them fries, we call them chips. What you call potato chips, we call crisps.” Emmett Maher, the restaurant manager at Beshoffs [...]
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Posted May 03, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
I know it’s not a competition, but still…
The dark blue Irish Sea, streaked with light on the cresting waves, moves far below my winding cliff path. Listen, I get that people love the ocean. Of course, it’s [...]
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Posted April 05, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Learning to ski for those older than 65 and for those younger than 5
The students are cautiously lining up. They are dressed in pinks and blues and reds and purples and whites… and, look, there’s someone in a sparkling glitter affair good for [...]
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