Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Monday, July 16, 2012

Brief update...

Steve, the son from the other mother arrived yesterday at the nursing home from S. Carolina. He and his fiance took the old man in a wheelchair outdoors into the 95 degree heat to snap a photo and sent it Joe via cell phone. In the midnight hour their dad crashed again. The nursing home sent his dad... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:49 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Potato Salad

Eight days ago - seems longer - I baked a salmon fillet and made a big batch of potato salad. The boys were supposed to come over, Joe was to bring Matt and Amy, but things happened. He had a flare-up with his girlfriend, the kids had something else on their agenda, and his dad had another health... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:27 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Coincidence?

My sons and daughter have been asking for prayers for their father on Facebook for the past week. As of this morning, his suffering continues, although his energy fades from day to day, and even he knows it's only a matter of time. I've spent the past couple of days organizing his files and records... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:57 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, July 13, 2012

Show us your shorts...

That's the first line of the ad on the back inside cover of "Writer's Digest." It calls me from the desk beside my keyboard, this call for entries to the magazine's annual short short story (1500 words or less) competion. I was thinking of touching up "A Death in Salkum" and submitting it -- the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:25 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, July 12, 2012

This 'n that

Heard from my daughter, who's safely back in Tampa after her 5 days in crazytown. She left a message on my phone during the five minutes it took to go haul the garbage & recycling bins back to their spot next to the garage. She's playing catch-up for the class she missed, recovering from the stress... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:14 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What Mama Said

Mom had a lot of colorful sayings... "Colder than a well-digger's ankle," (clean version) or "Hotter than the hinges on the gate to hell." Whenever she talked about things we now call stupid human tricks, she'd say so and so had to have been "numb from the butt both ways." It's not like the three of... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:42 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

About yesterday

One reason I post stuff on writing / writers is that it interests me and seems to draw comments from others who read and enjoy the same. Another is to distract myself from thinking about my trubbles. Long drawn out health issues among older people are so damn boring to other people - we can feel... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:02 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, July 9, 2012

A Death in Salkum - post mortem

If you recall, Iris had been a widow when she came to work for our guy Cal. You may not have noticed Iris' first husband had no name. He had a name in the original, but then I decided he didn't deserve one. In my mind her Christian fanatic husband was a warped soul with a serious sadistic streak,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:51 AM | add or view comments (9) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, July 8, 2012

A Death in Salkum - conclusion

At the time Riley Moore found Cal Walker’s body, unmarried couples didn’t live together, at least not without causing gossip. If single folks wanted to shack up for a night or two they’d find a No-tell Motel in the next county and it was nobody’s business. Many a man who found himself “batching it”... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:41 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, July 7, 2012

A Death in Salkum, part 1

It was Riley Moore, a logging truck driver, who found the body. Riley’s truck was in low gear. He was leaning over the steering wheel, unconsciously pushing the laboring engine up the last hundred yards to the crest of the Silver Creek grade. A few seconds more and he’d be on the level, another... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 3:12 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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