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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Posted December 02, 2020in Joe's Neighborhood
“Joe, this is going to hurt.” No kidding. I lie on my back trying to visualize a white sand beach with crystal blue water and a cabana worker offering an ice-cold beverage in an oversized glass. Instead, my go-to visualization usually involves buying a footlong hotdog with extra mustard from
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Posted November 04, 2020in Joe's Neighborhood
We sit on the bench. Both of us mouths open, heads leaned back, eyes wide. Glazed donuts melting in our hands as we watch. Clearly, no parent is in charge of the two of us. We grab a second donut before the show really begins. BIG TREE CUTTING. . .
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Posted September 30, 2020in Joe's Neighborhood
The tree rests comfortably on the roof. Nonchalantly, really. Not a care in the world. Might as well be in a pushed-back recliner with feet up. Perhaps a cigar would be in order. Or at least one of those new cocktails that are so popular at the local bars. It
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