My Sainted Mother and her Cosmic One-Upmanship
My Sainted Mother always seemed to be one step ahead of the rest of us. Once, when being interviewed for The Sacramento Bee on her new position as Chairman for the California Arts Council, the reporter asked her what her qualifications were and she replied, “I may not know much about art, but I … Continue reading
The Silence of the Chickens
(Warning! There are some graphic descriptions of chicken killing further down in this story. Proceed at your own risk.) It’s been a busy weekend here at the Ocular Edifice. Our little kitten, Izzy had two kittens under the bed and my wife got so excited she jumped up and down like a kid. Izzy is … Continue reading
Rest in Peace, Dear Friend.
Last Friday, on the 9th of March, an old friend passed away. Not just a friend, but also a teacher and a mentor who in many ways, altered the course of my life and became a part of my own history and personal mythology. He was a man of principle and authority, with a quick … Continue reading
Adventures in Traveling With My Father
Every year as a boy, my father would take me on a fishing trip to the Big Sky country of Montana. I still vividly remember the long hours spent driving across Utah, where the vast, flat expanses of barren white salt desert reflected the sky so perfectly that you could not find the horizon. The … Continue reading
It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch.
My parents had a motto in their later years that went, It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch. My father explained it to me by saying that to love someone deeply meant that sooner or later there would be profound pain from loss. He also said that it was that loving … Continue reading