When I got back from Germany Dawn met me at the airport and we went for lunch at the brewhouse. The bathroom smelled the same as it always did and I think the bartender recognized me, even though we’d been… Read More ›
work-life balance
Rain prose: going to work, to live
We were between fronts again. In the morning the sound of the birds seesawing the air in their rocking chair, rhythmic arcs: those sing-song loops like fireworks for wartime, warning cries, maybe just bliss. The air was damp from last… 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 ›
‘To become one with whatever one does’
My first day consulting, it had been almost two years since I last worked. They welcomed me in, and the office reminded me of where I’d been so many years before. They were nice and we had lunch together in… Read More ›
‘The chances were, they wouldn’t’
I sat at the bar watching golf. Behind me, three general contractors who swore a lot, talking about their jobs. I thought about saying something. I pictured how I’d do it. But after listening to them for a while, like… Read More ›
“Rain starting in 38 minutes”
When I came down in the morning I didn’t know where Dawn was, the coffee was brewed but she wasn’t in her office or the bathroom and for a moment I imagined her crying, in the dark—but she was just… Read More ›
Song for Friday, Monday, the weekdays
Worked into the tapestry of life is work itself, it’s inseparable, in fact it will loosen and destroy the fabric of life in its absence the way pests get into the woodwork or wardrobe and ruin you with holes. Work… Read More ›
Blue in green: Monday, January 23
I got too close to my car, which is never good (emotionally attached), probably starting to identify with it falling apart, the inexplicable warning lights flickering going up steep hills, knowing it was only a matter of time. And I… 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 ›
Pledge made in Galway last December
I came down to the lake after I left my job and talked to the unemployment office on the cell phone. They said I was eligible for X dollars but just because you’re eligible doesn’t mean you’ll get it, you… Read More ›
Bill Pearse 