Author Archives
Writings. Often within the intersection between fiction and non-fiction.
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That Damn Gym
That damn gym. Gulag 17 more like it. My wife, Karen, and I joined this facility about four or five years ago, knowing it wasn’t as much a “typical gym” as a health and fitness center for people who are… Read More ›
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My Butt is Killing Me
My butt is killing me. I am sitting on a soft, throw pillow on my favorite easy chair, and, nevertheless, my butt is the primary source of my pain, a throbbing thump pulsating up and down my backside no matter how… Read More ›
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My Bathroom Scale
Why is it always such a struggle? I am sitting in the early morning light drinking coffee and wondering why I am fighting with my body, once again. Every morning I weigh myself before I come downstairs. Often it is… Read More ›
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Moping Around
I have been grieving lately and though I haven’t experienced a death in my family (thank god!), or in my circle of friends (whew, you never know with that group!), or with any of the cats in my house (bummer!),… Read More ›
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So What’s This all About?
January 2013 This website is not a “how to” or “self-improvement” site. Nor is it a “motivational” or “meditational” site, neither of which I do very well. No recipes, I’m afraid, or exercise routines. No videos and very few… Read More ›
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When Mother Slapped Allison
“She slapped me in front of Junior,” Allison said, when I brought up our hired hands on the farm. It was a blustery Saturday back in May, and I had driven the six hours to Gettysburg the day before. It was now… Read More ›
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She’s Downstairs Looking for your Gun
He decided she was crazy. He was brushing his teeth, and it dawned on him the stress she was going through finally had taken her over the edge. Last week he pushed the idea that she should see a psychiatrist, ostensibly… Read More ›
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Reading Like a Writer
Over the past week I read a book entitled “Reading like a Writer” by Francine Pose. I bought this paperback at our local bookstore because it offered to help me do exactly what I needed to do from now on. Not only… Read More ›
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When I’m Alone
When I’m at home, alone inside, why am I so discreet? Closing the bathroom door, even on the second floor, where no one could peek if they tried; or coughing with a hand covering my mouth, who cares if the… Read More ›
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Reflections on a Friend’s Headstone
I saw the picture of M’s headstone posted on Facebook. A friend had been walking around the cemetery, saw her grave, and took the photograph. It was the first time I had seen her headstone in all these years, and… Read More ›
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My Sister Allison and Younger Brother Jerry
For Allison and me, it was also a time of great mystery, and we knew that on the farm magical creatures lived amongst us. Allison, a year and a half older than me, was only six when we moved to the… Read More ›
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Woodstock and the Wild Bunch
Friday nights are a great time to write as the work-week is over. I like drinking on Friday nights, so do indulge me. Luckily, I turned on the television and bumped into “Woodstock.” I have been enjoying the film immensely… Read More ›
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Hired Hands and Mother
With my father commuting back and forth, it was clear by that first spring our parents needed a full-time hired hand to work the farm, keep a handle on what was happening in the barn, feed the livestock, and till… Read More ›
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When It’s Time
There’s sadness in your hello. As much as we love you, We won’t let it show. You’re not trapped living a past, Or being someone You no longer know. I can see it in your smile. You can stay… Read More ›
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Tootsie Rolls
It is late Sunday night and I am standing in the kitchen with a mouthful of tootsie rolls. I have jammed eight, bite-size tootsie rolls into my mouth and now am having problems breathing. I should have blown my nose first –… Read More ›
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Rocky Mountain Ticks
Rocky Mountain Ticks Roaming around – On top of my head. (Now that’s alarming!) My wife won’t stop Long enough to touch them. (She thinks ticks are Disgusting.) Listen, mister, I’m not touching ticks (Without surgical gloves, A mask, and… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: McCall, Idaho
July 25th: It is six a.m. Tuesday morning, and I am lying in an exquisitely comfortable bed looking out a second-floor cabin window beside a lake in McCall, Idaho. The sun has just come over the mountains and cast a brilliant surge… Read More ›
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Mountain Meadow
Purple flowers blossoming in a Mountain meadow; tiny, white flowers Shaking off a long, harsh winter; Hundreds of dark, yellow bees Climbing pink, floral stems and each Other – droning, drunk, and alive; the Musky smell of Douglas fur and… Read More ›
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The School Bus; Mother and Me
I loved our farm deep in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think schools ever crossed my parents’ minds – not like how schools dominate real estate markets today and are often the decisive elements in where one… Read More ›
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Songs in Need of Singing
What song must I sing To thwart the sadness I see And negativity Permeating my life. What song must I sing To cast aside the few Moments of doubt I’ve used To define my life. What song must… Read More ›
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My Older Brother Charley
At the far end of the hall my brother, Charley, and I shared a bedroom, much to his dismay. It was clear to all of us, at this point in our lives, Charley did not like me, though I am not… Read More ›
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I Drove Up Behind her
I drove up behind her and saw a cloud in her car, Not smoke from a cigarette, Or a malfunctioning air conditioner, But a billowy white cloud Hovering in the back of her suv. I decided to follow her, But… Read More ›
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My Wife Can’t Sleep
Late at night I listen – to my wife moving around in our kitchen, floor boards groaning, pans burning, mixer mixing. Or the sound of the TV, my wife watching another Nazi documentary. My wife empathizes with the holocaust victims,… Read More ›
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The Farmhouse and Holly Too
Our house on the farm was a one-floor rancher in the shape of an “L”. At the lower end of the “L” was the living room and dining room overlooking our fields and the roof of the barn off to the… Read More ›
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In the Morning, In the Light
In the morning, in the light, I love you day and night, Isn’t it good, isn’t it right. No matter when it seems, It’s easy to dream — Love’s sweet dreams. This amazing feeling flies, Blazing across the… Read More ›
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Tonight She Won’t be Alone
He lies alone in an alley, no job, no life, no home. Pink umbrella under a window, she works all alone. Black BMW passes slowly, wipers cutting the unknown. Curled in a bloody corner, he moans and… Read More ›
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I Read You Were Lost
I read you were lost, Sitting on my bed Too drained From my daughter’s Good-bye. I couldn’t stop Reading. It will be months, Before she’s back In our lives. On a tropical beach Clouds streaming Across a salt-filled… Read More ›
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Winter on the Farm; at the Airport
It was in the fall of 1958 when we moved nine miles east of Somerset on Route 31, or the Somerset Pike as it was known, about a half-of-a-mile beyond the crossroads of Brotherton. At first, our parents loved their new… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: Corcovado
Just back from visiting Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. Staying at the Drake Bay Wilderness Lodge and woke up around five each morning to go bird watching. This morning spent a half-an-hour drinking coffee and… Read More ›
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Where we Lived; Mother and Daddy
The house my mother found in Gettysburg was magical. It was everything I could have wanted as a teenager, and it didn’t take long before I realized it. My family lived in three different locations while I was growing up. The first was… Read More ›
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The Pacific is Never Blue
Coastal currents creating Rip-tides of aqua and turquoise. Rolling waves crashing in white Flames on black jagged lava. Brown seed pods bobbing Buoyant in white effervescent froth. Lucent crabs piercing grayish Bubbles on moist brown sand. Hibiscus flutter maddeningly Red under swaying palms…. Read More ›
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My Life is Falling Apart
My life is falling apart And it’s your fault. We need to get it together Once and for all. I know you. You’re pushing me so I’ll Leave. Punishing me emotionally. Why are you – Fighting me? Why else – Do you… Read More ›
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My Heart Aches for You
My heart aches for you To the depth of my soul. My desire to help you, Protect you, save you, Reaches across worlds To embrace and comfort you. My heart aches for you To stand in place of you… Read More ›
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Introduction and Rationale
This is a reflection on my mother’s life and a story of my family. I have wanted to write this history for some time, and, hopefully, now that I am doing it, I’ll get the facts right as we go along. Unfortunately,… Read More ›
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She Agrees to Meet Him
She agrees to meet him at the grocery Co-op to talk about her work. Who could complain there in such a public place about him being nearly sixty and her being younger than his daughter turning twenty? He arrives… Read More ›
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I was in a Car Accident Once
I was in a car accident once in which I didn’t sustain any injuries and my car was untouched. I live about seven easy minutes from my office, and at one point in my tiny commute, I get on the interstate… Read More ›
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Families
Lives lived and lost in time. Who were they and why did they die? I thought you knew back when I was young, But it was a lie. Time passes So fast. Details become someone’s generalities and Subtleties lose their… Read More ›
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Time
Recently I have had problems with birthdays and especially my own. I spent this one in the skies ostensibly, flying to various cities to visit clients, and, I must admit, my family was not pleased at all as I didn’t answer… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: The Swami of Encinitas
Just back visiting Houston and San Diego. Took to the skies Wednesday morning (with a two-hour unscheduled delay in Baltimore) and was home three nights later, right on time. Two days into my speed trip through America sitting in a java joint in Encinitas, CA, I discovered I was missing the key stroke… Read More ›
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William, Marcus, and Eve
This is a story about William and Marcus and the night they met Eve. William and Marcus are from Durham, North Carolina — two kids literally out of thousands of teenagers in the county. William is 17 years old and… Read More ›
jonathan giles 