Perpetual Break

Apparently, I have a very whiny tone to my voice when I play golf. More than one playing partner has mimicked me, I would say, to perfection. Riding up the fairway, next shot. My partner says to me he has been working on mimicking the way I talk. Mind you, he is not a Southerner.…

When I was kid, my brother and I would stay up late.  In Concert.  I thought I was going to be this great guitarist.  I had a couple of amps in my bed room and a Les Paul.  When my parents would have something to do, which was rarely, I would turn those amps up. …

Dogs in the bed. I walk into my bedroom, snoring, in stereo. Some legs straight up, some legs sideways. Crowding the pillows, laid up in the crooks of our legs. Shifting all night long. Don’t get up for any reason because the whole pack is on the hunt. How can a king-size bed feel so…

Last day of summer. Cooler days ahead. I’m ready. I’m sitting in my new Adirondack chairs. I have a fan blowing. Surprisingly, it’s not humid. Dana bought these lights that look like glowing embers. Lights in the corner of the yard. Pixies. It feels like the beach in my own backyard. The fan feels like…

The first time I met my wife was in the salon. She walked in wearing Mardi Gras beads some months after Mardi Gras. The salon I worked at had a patio outside. I was listening to my Walkman, wearing my Reeboks and shorts that I can’t describe. I saw her when she came in. I…

Every evening, like so many other people, I get coffee ready for the next day. Programmable. I have two coffee cups. One is teal green, the other is lavender. The teal one is for the work week. When I open the cabinet and see both cups, a decision has to be made. Sometimes I just…

Vacations, when I was a kid, were trips to Panama City, Florida. Mom, Dad, my sister and brother, possibly a friend of my sister, would pile into a Ford Gran Torino two-door coupe. And let’s not forget the dachshund, Sam, with his bowl of water in the floorboard. Traveling like that today would be seen…

I think my Sunday morning golf group is falling apart again. Damn. How could something so fun just fade away? Life changes. I came late to a group of guys, a couple of trips a year. Fighting over teams, bets paid in dollar bills in the age of Venmo. The slowest rounds of golf on…

Hairstylists get a lot of gifts at holiday time. I like to let the gifts pile up to make my other clients feel guilty. Just kidding. I get a lot of wine. This bottle took me by surprise. He puts the wine down with all the others, doesn’t say a word about it. Château Lafite…

GHIN, not gin. Both are clear; they hide nothing. I can lust after them for the same reasons. Not quite, but close enough. I’m a mid-single-digit handicap. That number on the scorecard—it can make the heavens sing or make me want to dig a hole and throw the dirt on top of myself. Dramatic. Dropping…