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.”
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
Last full day at sea. Tomorrow we're in port, then an airport, then home. And I have to admit something I've never once been able to say at the end of one of these. I'm ready to go. Every other cruise I've taken has ended with me dragging my feet up the gangway. The last … Continue reading Ready To Go Home
Standing off the back of a ship at night in the middle of the ocean is the strangest feeling I know. The deck lights throw a haze that hangs out over the water, a kind of halo, and inside it you can see about a hundred feet of wake — white foam churned up and … Continue reading A Hundred Feet
