Posted October 06, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
My wife and I have major parts of our bodies that have never seen the light of day. The endless white sand beaches of southern Portugal are baked in bright sun, sprinkled with salty air, and filled with thousands of people up and down the coastline. Families, teenagers, the very
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Posted September 01, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
This is not going to be an unbiased examination of John Sarcone’s tenure as Polk County Attorney — with an accompanying hard-hitting look at why he prefers Italian sausage sandwiches to beef burgers. Sorry. Nor is this going to be a tell-all about Sarcone’s staff and why some of them
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Posted August 04, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
It’s time for a visit between two women with 192 years lived between them. “When I was in Indianapolis during World War II, I lived in a large house that only boarded girls. I was 17 years old.” My 94-year-old mom sits low in the front passenger seat as we
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Posted June 30, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Taking a whiz? Really? Everyone has to start somewhere. Perhaps it’s your first car, or it’s your first day after graduation, or it’s your first baby, or it’s your first love, or it’s your first Monday back in the office after a year and a half appearing for work in your
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Posted June 02, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The end of one time and the beginning of another. The goldfinches land on the feeder, quickly eat, then dart away. Dine and dash. They don’t hang around with the other birds for small talk and local gossip. But they have been long forecasting the change from winter to summer,
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Posted May 05, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The reading of the second book is always the most challenging. I sit next to my 2-year-old son and force my eyes wide while reading that riveting thriller “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.” Ain’t that the
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Posted March 31, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Seven of my siblings wait in line before me. Judy, Carol, Marla, John, Joyce, Jim and Cathy. I’m at the tail end. One at a time, they go into a small room at our grade school and then out they come with one sleeve rolled up, a mark on their
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Posted March 03, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Should I take the steep, black diamond run on the mountain to the left, or the longer, curving run on the mountain to the right? Do I want deep snow that sprays at every turn, or a slick track with speed? A chair lift for three, or a moving platform
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Posted February 03, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
We are late, my friend and I. The doors to the hall at Hoyt Sherman Place are already closed. We can hear the murmur of voices as we rush up the stairs to the entrance. He and I are breathing hard and still sweaty from our noon workout. We pull
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Posted January 06, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The boxwood stump, buried by leaves, snagged my dragging foot and landed me face-first in the soft ground. Ker-plop. No fanfare. No discussion. And certainly no dissent on the part of my lightning quick reflexes. Just… bang. So here I am in the leaves. Observing the world from a new
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