I’m from Scots-Irish descent and grew up in Florida in the 70s – before sunscreen was a thing. As a result, I used to burn fairly regularly. I love the sun, and continue to enjoy being outdoors as an adult. Albeit with plenty of sunscreen. Last year I noticed a tiny spot on my chest and scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist. He diagnosed the spot as basal cell carcinoma. Skin cancer. A week later, the doctor took a hot spoon…
Dear All Dogmatic American Party Liners, We Unaffiliated American voters are pissed off at what you’ve done to our country. How about this – how about you stop voting straight ticket because it’s the party of your Daddy, and use your fucking brains to decide how to vote? Stop looking across the aisle for enemies and start looking in the mirror? Our country is a fucking train wreck because of YOU. Not me. Not Boehner. Not Obama. Not affordable…
Twelve years. There’s still a bruise. Like everyone alive that day, I remember watching the planes fly into the buildings over and over and over. But mostly what I remember is how everyone in America was in one mind. One heart. We were closer than we ever were before, or have been since. Kind of ironic. Kind of beautiful. *** Jim Mitchem
when I dropped her off for soccer practice, she smacked me on the lips and banged into my tender nose. causing a little blood to appear. i said goodbye. told her not to cry. and then drove home through the cool, gray mist of an autumn afternoon. with the windows down. Jim Mitchem. I’m seeking the poetry of insignificant moments.
A found tank, a few fish, and a year’s time yielded the above pictured kitchen aquarium. It’s a thriving ecosystem with snails, ghost shrimp, red wag platys, catfish and a few guppies. Thriving is appropriate because the first red wags multiplied so fast that the offending male had to be relocated to a safe, undisclosed location. Hundreds of fry. Too many to name. Not all survived. While the first four all had names – one mistakenly female – we just…
Me and my family just returned from a solid vacation to Great Guana Cay in The Abacos, Bahamas. It was utterly beautiful. Covered in lush, green foliage and sprinkled with wild, fragrant flowers, the island is bordered by pink sand and surrounded by gin-clear water littered with coral reefs teeming with parrot fish. It was as close to paradise as I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. And yes, I’ve been to Hawaii. We saw stingrays, barracuda, turtles, a million…
