My grandfather went to work for Mobil Oil in 1946, right out of the war, and stayed until he retired around 1988. Forty-some years, southwest Oklahoma, running routes as a pumper. He was a slender man. Five-eight, five-nine, not big. And he had some of the strongest hands of anyone I've ever known — grip … Continue reading His Hard Hat
Carrying Grandma — “The stretcher wouldn’t fit in the bedroom, so somebody had to carry her out. My mother-in-law asked me.”
Some nights I sit down to write and there's nothing there. I check the top of my head, find it empty, and conclude I've run dry. Forty-seven years of material and the drawer's bare. Nothing worth anybody's time. This has been happening my whole life. What's different now is that I've stopped believing it. Here's … Continue reading Out Of Stuff To Say
"Can you summarize that for me?" I've been hearing some version of that my whole career. You write up a problem — the background, the angles you've considered, what you think ought to be done about it — and back it comes. Too long. Don't have time for all that. Give me the high points. … Continue reading The Warehouse
New round started today, and I've spent most of it taking things apart instead of adding to them. Seven habits, same as they've been. Bible reading, calorie tracking, water, exercise, reading, gratitude, and this — the daily writing. Two of them changed shape, though, and the changes are the whole point. Bible reading and the … Continue reading One Thing At A Time
