I climbed the webby trail to the established sites at Mosquito Creek in search of the pit toilet. I asked two guys I’d seen at the big rock, by the overland trail: they said it’s easy to find, there’s a… Read More ›
positivity
“Jimi thing”: last day on Whidbey Island, spring break ’17
The last morning I went down to the whale-watching bench to say goodbye and there were no sounds on a Saturday but the birds, a crow clicking on a totem pole, elderly folks shuffling up the sidewalks, bearded construction guys… Read More ›
This is where we put in
We went looking for whales. We rented a condo for a few nights on one of the nearby islands, small towns with hippies, locally owned stores, everyone in sweaters and graying. It was spring break for the kids but Dawn… Read More ›
32/30, more like 34
The jeans were getting harder to get into and the beers harder to get out of. The beers were getting easier to get into and the jeans to get out of. The reclining chair was bent and sagged but I pulled… Read More ›
The force of the light is the theme
How soothing at the lake, the water pooling in. Birds and kid sounds, a gull burrowed down, a helicopter seed- pod’s propeller spinning, brown: I watched it all the way, thought I could stay here all day, on the seam… Read More ›
Magnificent return to splendor
All the grisly-bearded rooftops in the morning covered with frost, warming up the car. Realizing I’m falling into familiar work patterns, things I used to do in my last job: going out to the car a few minutes before I… Read More ›
What I learned giving speeches when I was 12
In last week’s Democratic National Convention comedian Sarah Silverman quoted her shrink, who said ‘we don’t get what we want, we get what we think we deserve.’ I don’t remember why I chose to compete in an oratorical contest when I… Read More ›
What happened in the middle
I’m happy for November because it’s the one year anniversary since I started writing again. It’s not what I’m writing that makes me happy, but the fact I’m doing it, and it’s changed the way I look at life. Last… Read More ›
When nice guys fail
So I’m a nice guy, and I’m a project manager. If you can be both, I haven’t figured it out yet. Today I wasn’t a nice guy. I put the vendors on mute during an 8 AM conference call while… Read More ›
Since the war I smile more
This is the name of a poem I started after 9-11 but never finished. What bothered me most that day was the knowledge that things would never be the same, that no good would come of it. Instead, more violence,… Read More ›
Bill Pearse 