silverback

People Kill People (redux)

Not quite two years ago, I wrote the below entry in this very blog:

https://lifemechanical.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/people-kill-people

Having reread it just now, I still feel most of my points in that post are valid. I think it bears some refinement, though. For the sake of posterity, because I sadly just know we’ll likely revisit this place again, and again – we’ve just had two mass shootings in…

Eleven inches of snow and still falling, is what I woke up to this past Saturday – the first snow of the year. We were warned, and I was as prepared as I could be. The power was off, which was no surprise. My new house is way out in the country, nearly to the end of the power line spur. I had fresh water, gasoline for the generator, and a huge stack of firewood.

Coffee! Always the first order of…

I could not even believe how nervous I was for him. Lucas is thirteen now, and this year decided to consolidate all his Christmas and birthday loots into a season of racing motocross. No presents, no trips, no summer camp – just racing. We flipped his DRZ125 into a Honda CRF150R, which is much bigger and much more powerful – an honest-to-God motocross race bike. It’s a big jump. I got a deal I…

My father was an amazing, difficult, brilliant, tortured, creative, frightened, talented, socially awkward genius. I grew up in his shadow. As with most male children, I imagine, my father was to me both awe-inspiring and terrifying. He could be incredibly tender and nurturing, or he could be angry and distant – the stormclouds often visible across his brow and behind his eyes. My own son must…