When the Smoke Clears

Alright, as each day passes there’s a little more aggravation, but it’s how we deal with life’s upsets that determine the quality of the person.
However, I ran into a person, a Nurse Practitioner who was asking some of my advice on supplies for a new clinic they are opening. I say, go for the [...]

It’s time to do so many little tasks, so many things I don’t really care to. Oh, I have to update the blogroll and that’s something that, while tedious, is also fun as I try to remember the people I’ve met and those with whom I’ve interacted and enjoy their writing enough to suggest it [...]

Because I am tired and have had a great weekend, I decided to steal a meme sorta thing from Jimbo. Funny, I think doing this took longer than writing out a regular post, and it’s not like anyone is willing to read all the way through this stuff…
99 Things…
Have I ever:
1. Bought everyone in the [...]

Well that was uncomfortable.
My father showed up today, giving me only a few hours notice that he was coming. I’m… tolerant. I see some of the things that are similarities between us and it makes me worry. If those things are similar, am I capable of the same level of violence against those I [...]

Maybe it’s the tryptophan talking and causing all the crazy dreams, but it’s been an unusual couple of days. With two days off already (minus a little work email check) and I am anxious about how the next two days off will go and rushing into a new work week. That, of course, means I [...]

Alright, yes, it is a quiet Thanksgiving here in the cabin, and I have been cooking up a storm. I have drop-ins and strandeds coming by for food, but mostly it’s a relaxed place. It’s not the perfect place for Thanksgiving because without TV, there is no football. Mom wanted me to drive down, but [...]

Friend: So I hear the Cadidiot is in France right now.
Me: Yeah, he’s staying with his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. A little… strange… He must be enjoying the food though. Say what you want, the French do know how to eat well.
Friend: Crap. Hate to ask. Feeling inspired?
Me: Maybe a little.
Friend: Hit [...]

Last week work turned darker along with the skies through the week. By the weekend, the skies had cleared, a chill air sweeping up through the valley. Now, back to Monday and back to work and the skies look like they want to release snow, not just rain, and do so in a muddy fury. [...]

Playing with some fiction ideas combining elements of life. Here’s part 1 and 2…
Jenna knew that when they found Miller, he’d be fine. She knew that he’d only gotten lost and would eventually figure his way back to someone. She heard the calls over the radio for medical help and saw the van back up [...]

Sitting here in the main room of the cabin, only three sounds are coming through: intermittent shuffling of leaves along the deck accompanied by the stir of the wind chimes that came with the house and the stretching pops of the roof as it expands in the morning heat of the bright sun. I like [...]

The rain started last night, falling in hard drops loud enough to push into my sleep. I left the bedroom door open and could hear the echos coming from upstairs. While pulling an extra wool blanket up from my feet onto the pile on the bed, my mind started waking again, racing, calculating, analyzing.
Eventually [...]

Did you notice the Project Valour-IT numbers? Well beyond our goal. Can we keep it going to $200K? Amazing. The blogosphere is an incredible subset of our culture, but a culture unto its own right. Were it not for this internet community so many of us would wonder if we stood alone in the world, [...]

And no, not Valentine’s day.
Most likely if you are reading this you are part of my group of friends out there who have known me for years and are checking in on occasion, or you are some of the great people I have met through this blog and a few others. I take it [...]

I awoke this morning realizing the significance of the day. It is the USMC Birthday. Then I realized I had no idea where the local commemoration would be. No notices had gone out. No email in my box. I rushed out early to try to find it.
Turns out we didn’t have one this year. [...]

The smell of burning leaves is pervasive from down by the stream all the way up to the cabin, even spilling into the cabin somewhat, but I can see no fires even in the night. A gray smoke hangs, invading the fog, twisting tendrils through and corrupting the vapor.
The travel of the past week [...]