(Hockey Player Magazine, May 2020)
I’m getting older. I guess my friends are getting older too.
“Get on the list,” he texted.
“What list?”
“Geezer hockey, Friday morning, minimum age is 50.”
“It’s been a while since I skated on ice.”
“You’ll be fine. Other geezers will be there. They’re cool guys.” (more…)
Walk into any essential store these days and you’ll see X’s marking the spot for social distancing. This COVID-19 stuff is spooky. The only positive is if you test negative. At least our April 15 tax deadline is delayed until July. I share a few takes on COVID-19… these posts appeared on my Etc. Guy Facebook page… (more…)
Viewing Loveland Pass, CO
Hey folks, February 29, 2020 is a Leap Day. We get a free extra day, a twenty-four hour trip around the Sun, for doing nothing. Which also means that 2020 is a Leap Year. I have many writing projects in draft mode and will get on ‘em soon. In the meanwhile I’ve been enjoying the scenery while skiing in Colorado, this view of Loveland Pass from Arapahoe Basin Ski Area….
See more pics at the Etc.Guy Facebook page.
“The real joy is in constructing a sentence. But I see myself as an actor first because writing is what you do when you are ready and acting is what you do when someone else is ready.” Steve Martin
I write when pen hits the pad. Sometimes that pad and my imaginary friends are hard to find—writer’s block is bad news. I write when I’m ready but coming up in a few weeks others will act when the audience is ready. So audience, get ready for a fun evening at the Blue Room Theatre in Chico where actors will read the works of selected North State Writers. (more…)
(Published in Hockey Player Magazine, December 2019)
“I always liked speed.” Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens
They are not Ferrari fast. But they’re quicker than my old Lego® block wheels.
“Get decent wheels dude,” Tex advised. A regular season Blazer teammate, Tex joined fellow teammate Roxanne and me to play summer hockey. Northern California’s heat is unfriendly hockey weather where temperatures regularly pass the century mark. Our in-line hockey arena, a former warehouse, can reach 105 F. With wind chill conditions. (more…)
Sgt. Alvarez with Maggie
(Readers: I wrote this story based on an event nine years ago, glad to update it a bit).
Eighty words bridged seven thousand miles.
“Write to a soldier and cheer them up,” said Mrs. Larsen, while coordinating a holiday writing campaign for her fourth grade class. My daughter, Maggie, carefully focused on the task. Her vocabulary simple, the paragraphs consisted of short-syllable action words. She wrote about her hobbies, family, school, and pets. Her letter was boxed with sixty others and mailed, destination unknown. “You may not hear back,” I told her, “but we’re proud you tried.”
In 1971 my dad, an Air Force doctor, received orders to Vietnam. My family wept. Writing him letters made me feel better. (more…)
“I am part of everything that I have read.” Theodore Roosevelt
Hold the date trivia nerds. Box up the Scrabble game and come out for a good time. It’s a big night for big brains and bigger laughs.
What is the name of the dog on RCA’s old logo?
Name the mutt on October 25.
Which state is the first state and the diamond state?
State your answer October 25, in a Big room.
What type of animal is the sire, or father, of a mule?
It’s asinine to say. The answer is Top Secret. (more…)
“A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” Proverbs 31:10
I hadn’t hugged her for years. Not because of a jealous mate, but because one of us had cooties. Lin had bad blood in her bones.
“Good thing I can’t kiss you,” I said. “You’d fall in love with me.” She laughed. (more…)
They are kids with wrinkled skin who wear plenty of attitude.
Shuttle vans park outside the main entrance to cart them to and fro, whether to doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping or to the movies. Panel doors slide open and wheel chair ramps pop out. After the cargos load, the vans are off and about.
Inside I walk by a greeter who sits across a gym. The gym is supervised by physical and occupational therapists, young 30-somethings coaching and pushing their clientele. Racks of two pound dumbbells line the walls. I observe old guys and gals stretching elastic bands, and the therapists stretching them. (more…)
“So God has a lava lamp. I’m cool with that.” Tom Bodett, pitchman for Motel 6
He made a career pitching hotel rooms.
In the mid 1980’s Tom Bodett lived in Homer, Alaska, the southernmost town in the state’s highway system. An outpost 200 miles south of Anchorage at the end of the road, Bodett was a writer, building contractor, and commentator on local National Public Radio (NPR). Bodett was discovered by a Dallas based advertising agency promoting a hotel chain in the midst of rebranding, Motel 6. Agency representatives heard one of Bodett’s stories and hired him to promote the chain, exclaiming “he sounded like the kind of person that stay’s there.” Bodett’s initial Motel 6 ads were test marketed in Texas and California. Needless to say, the Motel 6 brand was built around a guy who promised to “leave the light on for you.” (more…)