Innocence

Coloring
Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence. ~ Norman Podhoretz I don’t remember coloring much when I was a kid. My dad used to have a CB Radio in his truck. He went by the handle “Happy Hunter.” Once, he stopped at a truck stop or some such place filled with trucker swill and bought me an enormous coloring book detailing the antics of CB Bunny. I̵

Eleven Months
I see her sometimes. Right in front of me I pull focus on an image. Smiling. Another image. Younger. And smiling. No image that is clear lacks a smile. As a child, I saw them hanging on paneled walls in wooden frames amid a menagerie of newer portraits or tucked inside plastic sleeves in albums with cardboard, felt-lined covers with fraying corners. Single-serving heartbeats, some willingly surrendered before the professional’s eye, others stolen by amateurs. Though numerous, combined they document less than a moment, so I am left to imagine

The Dream
I had the most vivid dream last night. Maybe it was the beer. Or the leftover Hamburger Helper I warmed up too late and then forgot about and left sitting in the microwave where it cooled down so much that I had to nuke it again. How many times can you reheat Hamburger Helper, I wonder, before it becomes just a rock of something unrecognizable and then sits in your gut all night while you try and get some sleep. I’ll blame the Hamburger Helper. I had taken a job at a child care center shaped like one of those A frame houses with the lof

Breakfast with a Vet
The real test of friendship is: Can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy together those moments of life that are utterly simple? They are the moments that people look back on at the end of life and number as their most sacred experiences. ~ Eugene Kennedy We went to the usual spot, the Athenian Restaurant on Coliseum, because he likes to flirt with the waitress. It’s sort of embarrassing. But I was spared that particular show on this sunny but brisk Veterans Day morning; much to his dismay,

Magical Birthday Cake Tour
All the ingredients, the mix and eggs and oil and sugary blue and green frosting, were fashioned with love and care by the baker at our local supermarket into the perfect cake. A rectangle of show-stopping perfection. My wife picked it up and we hauled it to my mom and dad’s place. My mom had prepared the bestest of birthday dinners. Beef and noodles, deviled eggs, French-style green beans, heat-and-serve rolls, and her world-famous, to-die-for hash brown potato casserole with golden brown corn flakes on top. These are the delicacies that have padded