A million gnats and tiny moths dance silently in the spider webs outside my window. The front door is open with the screen door latched. It’s a late spring night, all damp and cool, without a breath of wind. Suddenly coyotes yip and howl up by the mailbox 50 yards away. Dogs bark in response, [...]
family
Iowa, Iowa
The downtown art show in Dubuque did give me a somewhat unwelcome sense of deja vu—memories of when I used to sit for hours in a booth trying to look cheerful while no one bought anything—and it was hot and humid, but I don’t think either of those are what my wife and sister-in-law are [...]
Possibly the best cropping I have ever done (Dubuque, Iowa)
A funny thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. When I finished my grueling 10-day exile in Maine, having decided what to keep out of all my dead aunt’s possessions I had suddenly inherited, I ended up with four large boxes and one suitcase full of photos, family letters, Finnish fish knives, my [...]
The last time I stood here, here were pelicans gliding in the breeze
I could almost live in Balltown. Well, for a couple of weeks, anyway. This is the view from the scenic overlook just past Breitbach’s restaurant, and the photo doesn’t do justice to the sense of being up in the air you get along this ridge a short way from the Mississippi. (That’s the river in [...]
Part of the old lady’s 32 acres in East Vassalboro, Maine
Flying is a silly way to travel. “Just takes a day to get there,” oh sure. I had to leave my 99-year-old dead aunt’s house in Maine in the wee hours of the morning to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight, so no sleep at all for 24 hours. The next two days back home in [...]
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