The kids were up late monkeying around, you could hear them giggling in their room. It was the echo of little girls though that was a long time ago, now. They were playing a game on one of their tablets…. Read More ›
spirituality
Holding boundaries
Four years ago Russia invaded Ukraine while we vacationed at Laguna Beach over mid-winter break. I was two months into my no-weed sobriety and a year without alcohol. Going to a place as beautiful as Laguna Beach seemed cause enough… Read More ›
Glittering prize
The Issaquah Alps are a series of mountains in western Washington stretching along Interstate 90 between Lake Washington and the Cascade Range. No peak is higher than 3,500 feet, roughly 1,050 meters. I’ve climbed the Tiger Mountain trails, Cougar Mountain… Read More ›
Another window
I went back up Tiger Mountain but this time in the dark, walking mostly by moonlight. It takes about an hour to get to the top and it’s a well-groomed trail, though there are some big rocks to watch out… Read More ›
This house of ours
Dark early mornings with the smell of candle wax and incense. My cotton T-shirt wet from the cat suckling me. The bistro lamps on the chicken coop out back and the occasional silhouettes of deer passing by, pausing to chew… Read More ›
Was
I’d finally become that guy you see walking around the neighborhood at odd hours wearing a fluorescent high-visibility vest. Sure it made sense as a safety measure but people in those vests always irked me, their look-at-me-I’m-so-responsible attitude, the way… Read More ›
Epiphany
The best light of day is on the seams of it, at the start and end. You don’t need to be a stoner to understand this but it helps. The stoner has a crude love of the sensuous, best realized… Read More ›
All the young dudes
I liked making stews this time of year. Last year it was the seafood gumbo and Guyanese pepperpot, this year a pork shoulder braised with lemon, green olives and tomatoes. But I’m starting to sense the stews are more appreciated… Read More ›
Spirit of the rising sun
Just the radio in the corner and the heater blowing. The year winds down. We had so much rain this week they compared it to the floods of 1990 but this week was worse. I stayed in all day, no… Read More ›
Beware of Maya
Drab autumn days. Leaves the color of old copper coins. Days meant for sofas and blankets and gloomy tunes. In short, my favorite kind of days. Days of tea and cloudy afternoons and poetry. Days of naps and not brushing… Read More ›
Bill Pearse 