I'm back...unfamiliar changes to the blog; how to do issues for me. I will have to learn more. My plan is to start posting writings here, but likely short fiction, stories, pieces, ideas...I've started a list of "ideas" to expand and will get around to writing and posting more soon. I may also alert others that I have a blog, a best-kept secret.

return, almost two years away!

I lost this blog, not sure how. Some change of computers and I could not find this blog. Then, via Google, just playing, there it is again. I'll try to keep something going, photos, too...no one reads this but that's okay.

back again...it's been a long, long time

Headache on my day off






oh my god...it's November...the earth whirling in loops around the sun, blink, a month is gone, Thanksgiving, Christmas mounting again...all so fast, all too fast...bad weather in the wings, over Canada, looking for a passage to sweep down on Illinois, ice, snow, sleet, blizzards, high drama of driving...

That is to say time is passing swiftly. There's a trip coming up shortly to see my kids in California; I leave here November 8th and return November 19th, so rougly eleven days. This moment, today, the tides of thoughts have shifted to some odd sense of regret or disinterest in making the trip. Old fears of flying impose, but beyond that, I sense a major disconnection there, I am not in any way central, the kids are remote physically--as in far away--but even more so emotionally. Matt's working with an attorney to convert my share of the Goleta house to him and Lauren, a done deal. If I could now go to New Zealand or Sicily to live under a bridge (far away, the ends of the earth) I would.

I'm tired of working, a painful proceedure, up and at 'em, headaches, backaches, arthritis, because I'm old. I'm not sure of Social Security, when it starts, how much, but guess it's not enough...

it used to be Pacific-August

this summer, the length of it, has been very rainy, cooler and rainier than normal.

In my youth there was some magic to "August" the month, the place, on the coast of California...less fog, warmth at night, a sensual feeling to the climate. Now, here, older, in Illinois, it--August--means a tilt of the seasons, as summer becomes autumn and autumn then becomes winter with all that that entails, ice, cold, bare trees, discontent. Coasting into eight years here! Amazing.

My friend Robert Joseph has been diagnosed with cancer of the colon; surgery, he has opted, as least for the present, to avoid chemotherapy and radiation and yesterday flew from Nevada, where he lives, to Tijuana, California Sur, Mexico, for some vegan sort of treatment at a clinic there.

email to the kids

this is an email I sent to Matt, Saniata, Lauren a few minutes ago...a testament to good eating maybe, as much as a gesture to be included...such a drift from the kids, mostly Lauren. I'm left with a sense of having to guess what I might have done to be in such disdain? Fairly clueless. So here's the email which is mostly joyous with the sense of food, always a good binder with me and my kids...I like that in them.
the email:


So I was really hungry this afternoon, I'm not sure why. I made dinner. Thick Iowa pork chops, 1.5 inches thick, very slowly browned in the electric skillet in olive oil and canola oil; added chopped onion, chopped garlic, large chopped bell pepper, large chopped celery, a very little hot chile, salt, pepper, fresh oregano, fresh basil and let it meld...lid on, lid off



Meanwhile I made my own sort of egg noodles alfredo, parmesan~pecorino...



Noodles rich, soft, creamy, pork chop on top of that, fresh home grown tomato slices over that, (from friends) sprinkled with fresh basil



Fork tender, I though I'd died and gone to hog heaven, really the best pork chops I've ever made.



The fresh (not cooked) tomato slices really added zing, sweet, bitter, a nice blend with the onion, garlic, pepper concoction...I'm sure you do something like this, but wonderful...Jim, picky roomie, scraped all the veggies off and ate it, too, and liked it, he said. Well, he said, "not bad" which is midwestern-speak for "very good!"



So how are you? How's Matt feeling? Where is Lauren? Alameda, Cleveland, Alaska, Bahamas? Did you have a party for Kaliya? Lauren there, the Rosebaum tribe there?



Let me know...Love you all and Happy Birthday Sweetheart Kaliya! Grandpa David, Papa

The picture above, high summer, everything blooming, fecund, making seeds and fragrance and withering with the season. Oh...I'm still not smoking! Amazing! I think it's six month on August 13th

I'm still here--not good at keeping this going, I'll do more to blog better...

not smoking...

February 13th, stop day, so March 13th., April 13th., about two months and two days...no smoking!

Long winter has passed. Spring here, everything blooming. I bought tomatoes to plant, heirlooms...some peppers and chilis and flowers. Work, bad weather, laziness keeps the garden mostly unplanted, but I'll get to it.