today, i want to be in guana state park. traversing the winding trails through the ancient forest where rattlesnakes sleep under palmetto fronds, and low spots are tar baths for boar. above me, banana spiders menacingly hang between the pines and oaks. floating there, stationary against the sky. waiting. waiting. past the river, around a pond, across A1A, and through the oat-covered dunes to where the golden shore opens up and slides into the sapphire sea. but instead, I’ll help turn the…
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. “One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. “This same fight is…
“Monet is only an eye. Yet what an eye.” – Cezanne My youngest daughter swam in a meet over the weekend. We parked our chairs at the side of the pool where the swimmers pull themselves out of the water and walk back around to the blocks during warm ups. I was wearing a tee shirt depicting a human hand and a dog paw engaged in a fist bump. A hundred kids pulled themselves out of the water in front of us and…
“Dad, can we have a Halloween party?” Sure. But you have to plan it. “How?” Start from the beginning. First, pick a date. Then consider the guest list and budget. “A budget?” Yes, it’s the thing that helps pay for the party. For example, what are people going to eat? “I don’t know, hamburgers and hot dogs?” Right. So we need to know how many of those things to buy to accommodate the guests. That requires money. Money that your…
Pat Morita lives in my head. I visit him every day. After I get up and have coffee and brush my teeth. After I take the kids to school. And after another cup of coffee, I don my brown jacket walk across the street and knock on his door. He never answers, so I just go in. It’s a courtesy knock. It’s dark inside. The blinds are pulled. Time to write, he says from out of the darkness. So…
I recently sat down for coffee with an old friend from the advertising business. “So I looked at your website, and I’m just not sure what you do, Jim,” she said. I gave her a quizzical gaze that, if it lasted another second, could have been misconstrued as sarcasm. “Well, I’m in marketing,” I said. “But it’s not clear on your site. Are you sure it’s not something social media related?” Another gaze. “No,” I said. “I mean, yes, of…
