Monthly Archives: January 2019

    THE PINATA CAPER   That’s right, I am a Piñata! You got a problem with that? Until today, I was sitting comfortably in the back of a costume store, minding my own business and contentedly collecting dust. Then, … Continue reading →

It was late September and Julia still hadn’t made any friends. That didn’t surprise her. School was in full swing at Southlake High, and almost everyone in the junior class had known each other since kindergarten. Julia, on the other … Continue reading →

It was Saturday, little league day.   The entire field behind the school was active with the back to back ball diamonds full of boys from pre-little league to pony league.  This was a weekly event for my family.  My brother … Continue reading →

      SEVEN   Fulgencio and Brodovicci were accomplished, professional hit-men for the Bulgarian mafia.   Their assignment was to bring the dead bodies of seven federal investigators to the chieftain of the mob, Nazario Telemundo.   Over the … Continue reading →

Brooklyn was a spider web. Grandma’s house pulled in all my uncles, aunts, and cousins.  At the center, was a two-story house, where my grandmother lived with her mother, and husband. They came to America in the early 1900’s from … Continue reading →

The real pleasure was not the challenge, it was the danger. I felt like an international spy as I lightly tapped the shoulder of my partner in crime. A hand reached slowly behind his back as I slipped the folded … Continue reading →

It’s a warm sunny day so all the kids hitch hiked down to the sandy beach on the shore of Lake Superior.  I decided to swim across the Portage Canal between the two light houses at the entrance.  The quarter … Continue reading →

It’s 7:59 A.M. on a standard cold day in February 1949.  As we often did the boys ran and slid on the snow packed streets on either side of the Morrison School before the bell rang. Time for me and … Continue reading →

(The story cut to 100 words.) Mom arranged six birthday candles on the cake as CIndy’s anticipation mounted. She couldn’t wait to see her new red scooter. Daddy came in, carrying a beautifully wrapped box that wasn’t big enough to … Continue reading →

Back in the sixties cars were getting faster, more powerful, playing into the hands and feet too of young hotrodders.  Shoe sizes seemed to be getting bigger after a kid got his drivers license.  Mine went from, a respectful size … Continue reading →

In the back of our house in Pelican Preserve, interconnecting waterways give us incredible views. Ignoring Mitzi’s worries about the alligators. I sat on a rock near the moving water. I opened my laptop and started writing. Suddenly, there was … Continue reading →

It started subtly enough at first. The famed Fontainbleu Hotel on Miami Beach still stood proudly, 64 years after it began its prominence on Collins Avenue. But the ocean waves were quietly lapping over the cream-white sand, ever closer to … Continue reading →

I’m sorry, he mouthed and drove away,  leaving me down, luckily surviving! He hadn’t the courage or character to stay Face the fact he was texting while driving.   I’d been in a bike lane, clearly marked, Pedaling along at … Continue reading →

Janus has been known as a practical joker since the age of five when he placed a dead mouse in his sister’s dollhouse and told her the dolls had company. As he got older his jokes became more sophisticated and … Continue reading →

  The hands on our town clock have disappeared. A higher power is telling us we are living on borrowed time. This may account for the rapid rise in fitness programs, clubs and activities.   Holding off Mother Time we … Continue reading →

I walked down a city street, feeling grit beneath my shoes, burdened by a cacophony of voices, coughing the exhaust of taxis, amid a rainbow of faces.   My thoughts lived in clean, high mountains, reveling in the scents of … Continue reading →

It was a normal day at the lake, one we often shared as a young family on our speedboat.  Darting around the lake with the speed assisted wind sweeping our hair in all directions and floating around in our life jackets wading … Continue reading →

    THE MAP   It started most innocently. My wife and I ordered take-out from our favorite Chinese restaurant. The food, as usual, was absolutely delicious. After stuffing ourselves, we reached for the four fortune cookies included with the … Continue reading →

Okay, I’m a newly minted State Trooper way back in the sixties.  Remember them? People were supposed to be coming more enlightened and wise with the mind blowing drugs and all.  Not always true as this little vignette of my … Continue reading →

There is no way to hide it. I might as well tell you now: I was born on April Fools’ Day. Please hold the wise cracks. I heard them all already! My mother, when she was reflecting on her age, revealed … Continue reading →

I was cleaning out my Spam folder, a task I did daily, when I saw a new email with “Delete This” in the subject line. I hadn’t seen that for quite a while and was suspicious that it might be … Continue reading →

                                                                                        January 8, 2035 Dear Diary, Who am I? I thought I knew, but now … I feel like everything is upside down. I didn’t want to come on this stupid camping trip anyway, and now look what happened. … Continue reading →

My name is Chris and I’m an oldster. No, here and now, in this time and place, I’m an oldest and the new Leader. I became an oldster almost a year ago on my 77th birthday. Now that Tom died, … Continue reading →

Every few years I go through this same dilemma. Do I renew my Marriage Contract, or let it lapse and find someone new? I know this partner well and we have settled into a comfortable life together, but sometimes … … Continue reading →

  “Gentlemen, let me start with introductions,” came a voice from a speaker placed in the center of the table. “At the far side of the table is Ramses II, Pharaoh of Egypt during the Exodus. To his right Pope … Continue reading →

I doubt that we (the elder ones) will see it, but “things” move much faster today than in the past, so we must get prepared for though we may not be affected, our grandchildren most certainly will. We all knew … Continue reading →

  The defect was a mystery. Doctors have run all the tests- blood tests, numerous x-rays and an MRI. All negative, except for that MRI which showed “normal atrophy for age”. Now, I like the word “normal” but the “atrophy” … Continue reading →

The 2010’s had not been the best decade for Sandra.  It just seemed like the last few years she was life’s dumpster. Five years ago her husband of 30 years left her.  Three years ago, her 25 year-old daughter lost … Continue reading →

A NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP   This notice recently appeared on the Pelican website: Construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Brown Pelican, a Gothic extravaganza, will be built on the site of the former pickle ball courts. … Continue reading →

“Is this 911? My name is Lisa Jenkins. I am 88 years old and I am calling you to ask for your help. I am very upset and do not know what else to do! Let me explain what happened … Continue reading →

My Sweet Tooth My parents, my brother and I lived in a small attached house in Brooklyn, New York. My father cared for our tiny garden in the back of the house. It was surrounded with brick sides on three … Continue reading →

My MacBook Pro crashed right before I left for Pelican Preserve. All the great minds at the Apple store, who call themselves “Geniuses”, could not tell me the cause of the problem and why the only way to fix it … Continue reading →

Remember the commands; Ctrl, Alt, Delete? Yes it was a chance to restart your computer, restart your whole life or so it seemed when computers were so new and difficult to use. But now, alas, things are much simpler. Just … Continue reading →

It was an excited half-skip, half-walk past neighboring blocks of two-family houses that stretched across Blue Hills Avenue. Yet it seemed a long journey to me, a six-year-old boy, as I tagged along after my older sister, Ray, and her … Continue reading →

December 24th, 6:02 pm EST   We interrupt this program with breaking news. Santa Claus has announced that he will retire at 6:00 AM EST tomorrow morning after his final run this evening. He states as his reason for retirement … Continue reading →

She wore the old style of hose, those that required a garter belt and had a seam that ran down the back.  She dressed as thou she was auditioning for a part in an old movie, a 2 piece suit … Continue reading →

      SWEET MEMORIES   Jaromir was born in Zagreb in 1947, during the dictatorial reign of Joseph Broz (Tito). His childhood was marked by periods of acute hunger, lack of education and no spiritual or moral guidance. Yet, … Continue reading →

Carol and Doug loved to spoil their grandkids.  Living 1,000 miles away in Florida, it is necessary to turn up the grandparent indulgence to 11 to compete with the Chicago grandparents who see them all the time, instead of just … Continue reading →

My New Year’s resolution is to do more for others that I do for myself.  Ha Ha. Lofty goal indeed. So how do I start. First thing; take a bike ride every day so I can stay in reasonably good … Continue reading →

Freddy sat in the lobby of The Franklin Hotel, the oldest establishment in Busby, Wisconsin reading a Busby Tribune that was 2 days old and bored out of his skull.  He could not understand what was taking Marjorie so long … Continue reading →

  One of my favorite pastimes is rummaging around antique shops in search of that one special treasure that everyone else has passed by. I was taking a tour of famous historic battle sites and had stopped in Hastings, England. … Continue reading →