We got into St. Thomas at seven this morning and walked off not knowing what to expect. It's a small island and it feels smaller — tucked away, unhurried. People wanted our business but nobody put anything in our faces about it. We rode a gondola up to a lookout and stood there a while … Continue reading Twenty Years
I love watching people, and a ship is about the best place I've found to do it. Everybody converges. Nationalities I couldn't place, accents I can't identify, families three generations deep at one table. Old people moving slow and full of life. Kids running where they shouldn't. Somebody loud at the bar who wants the … Continue reading Passenger
My son and I went to music trivia tonight. Country music. We went twenty for twenty. Every song, every artist, plus the bonus question at the end. Perfect score. I walked out of there feeling pretty good about my ear. Then I did the math on the way back and had to admit something. Of … Continue reading Twenty for Twenty
Christmas of 1997 I asked my parents for a guitar, and they got me one. I was halfway through my sophomore year, home for the break. I opened the box and I was genuinely thrilled — right up until I got my hands on the neck. It was a beginner's three-quarter model, and my hands … Continue reading The Wall
My voice dropped when I was thirteen and it dropped all the way. There was a girl named Misty I'd met at camp. Louisiana, thick bayou accent, and we were friends — not dating, nothing like that, just a long-distance friend I thought was about the coolest person I knew. I called her house one … Continue reading A Grown Man On The Phone
