Why a Garden? An excerpt from the Garden Memoir The Family Garden Gardens provide discovery, beauty, and sustenance. Experimenting with new plants and learning how an ecosystem self-regulates moves me to pursue more discovery. Uncovering which plants thrive together teaches us about dependence. Learning that a plant found in the…

Rob sought the job as a museum security guard because he did not want to work hard and he did not want to work outdoors. It was summer and the sun could penetrate well below the skin, into the bones, and change people forever. He liked the way he was. …

Haydn’s Quartet in C Major Op. 54 №2. — An old woman’s profile filled the bottom right corner of the barn window as she sat upon a bale of hay. She wore a black turtleneck in spite of the eighty degree weather. Her eyeglasses rested snugly on the tip of her nose, as if she was reading. She set…

Hopefully these hold up. Responses to a Deep Dive Prompt by Subhi Najar. Thanks Subhi! I found these questions rather challenging, especially to answer so succinctly! We’ll see how these answers hold up! What does happiness mean to you? Please define it in a word, line, picture, or story. When…

It is the least we can do. — Since the Columbine catastrophe in 1999, more than 352,000 students have experienced school shootings, according to the Washington Post. Over 200 have died, with over 400 injured, also according to the Washington Post. And that is just from school shootings. The primary cause of death for American children is gun…

Have you saved someone? — By my count, I’ve saved 4 lives. By saving a life, I don’t mean “you saved my life” when you gave me that ride home. Or that “you saved my life” when you jumped in and rescued that sales presentation. I mean helping someone avoid an imminent death. When faced…

Because that is what I do — I live in the United States. Someone walked across my backyard yesterday. He was fifty yards out or so, and walking away from me. I did not recognize him. He looked about 20 years old. I felt threatened.. I’ll tell you what I did not do. I did not slowly…

Answers to 11 Questions — Subhi Najar set out these questions for a few to answer. I’m giving it a try! Thanks Subhi! When did you start writing? Is there a specific story? I started writing in grade school, mostly about my sports heroes and the American Civil War. 2. Do you have rituals in…

San Francisco in the late ‘80s — In 1988, I became a buyer at Macy’s in San Francisco. I was 27 years old, and conveniently, I bought for Department 27. I was a little bit of a numbers guy, and I loved the number 27 because it is 3 to the 3rd power. And from my college…