Musings
Soda And Snake Oil
On May 25, 1992, Victoria Angelo listened intently to the evening news on television from her tin-roofed shack in one of Manila’s more squalid slums. For weeks before, Pepsi’s advertisements, splashed all over Philippine newspapers, radio and TV, were hardly subtle: “Today, you could be a millionaire!” The unemployed mother of five and her husband,…
Read MoreLet’s Get Physical
That title may cause you to think of the 1981 Platinum hit by Olivia Newton-John. I have been thinking about a lyric from the song, but I’m not thinking about what Olivia was thinking about. In the chorus, Olivia says, “Let me hear your body talk.” Our bodies do speak to us. Before recovery, I…
Read MoreA Warning Light
When we left Colorado to come home early Sunday morning, the check engine light was on in my car. The car was running fine, fluids and pressures were good, and in general it was not at all apparent that anything was wrong. My car came with a service where I can push a button and…
Read MoreThe Collector
We made our annual trek to Colorado on Sunday. Sometimes we take the scenic route through the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and up into Colorado and the mountains from the South. This year, the crew opted for the straight drive north to Salina and then across the plains to the mountains. The drive is mostly…
Read MoreMice And Men
But Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best-laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy! I broke my elbow this weekend. It’s an embarrassing story that involves a skateboard, a slick garage floor, and me having no business being on a skateboard.…
Read MoreFollow The Leader
When I was little (and maybe not so little) we played a simple game called “Follow The Leader.” Maybe you have played it too. One person is picked as the “leader” and everyone else lines up and follows the leader around, mimicking whatever the leader does. It’s a simple game, but it has very important…
Read MoreNo Use Going Back To Yesterday
The other day, I was watching a butterfly busily fliting from one pansy blossom to the next in a flowerbed next to where I parked my car. It was a Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly, common to Oklahoma and most of the eastern and southern United States. For a moment I was transported back to the still…
Read MoreRound Up
Recently I had the opportunity to visit a ranch, owned by a friend here in Oklahoma, during their spring branding. I was fascinated as I watched the cowboys (and girls) work the cattle much the way it has been done for decades. By the time I arrived, the cowboys had already rounded up the calves…
Read MoreDuck, Duck, Goose
On my morning walk, I pass a small lake where several geese families live. Earlier this spring, the goslings started showing up. Ultimately there were three sets of goslings that came every morning to graze in one of the lawns next to the lake. The first family had three goslings the first time I saw…
Read MoreGateway
I’ve been thinking about pain a lot lately. The emotional kind. Where it comes from. Why we have it. What I do with it. There is a lot of pain related to what we are having to do these days. I haven’t always been able to face that. I used to ignore and medicate it…
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