Coastal Notes

little bits of this and that

writing

  • A Little Time Away

    My that was a truly lovely holiday season. I’d be counting my blessings, but, truly, I can’t count that high. The gouache above is a “picture in my head” from our 5 days in the Alaskan Interior in early November. We went chasing the Northern Lights with dear friends. We failed, but we had the Read more

  • A Moral Dilemma

    When I was in grammar school, I was bullied by the “big kid” in class.  As I recall it, this bullying was very specific — he wanted my lunch and he got it.  Now, mind you, I usually had pretty great lunches: Homemade sandwiches, homemade baked goods and from time to time, fresh lobster rolls Read more

  • THE STORIES OF OUR LIVES

    We recently had to empty our car’s trunk, glovebox, center console and side door pockets in a very very short period of time – about 10 minutes. We literally dumped everything into the very handy, very large quantity of grocery bags stored in the trunk (both paper and reusable). Later we sorted through these things, Read more

  • AFWOYT

    (“A Frivolous Waste of Your Time”) (…you have been warned…) I appreciate that software companies have designers on staff to enhance the overall user experience. As “soft”ware, there is a certain amount of on-going enhancement that we users have come to expect. But when does it just become decor for decor’s sake — when is Read more

  • Coming Home, Again

    We’ve spent the past two evenings warmly wrapped in joy (and excellent food and drink!) as invitees to the 3 day marriage festival of our good friends’ only child. She is marrying into a family from abroad, and the large cohort of friends and family from both sides are diverse and far flung. This reminds Read more

  • Losing Touch

    Today I almost got scammed on eBay. Fortunately I caught the scam in process and got my money back. The really bad news is that there’s no repercussion for the would-be scammer because there is no way to file a complaint with eBay because I “successfully” dealt with the issue directly with the Seller. By Read more

  • Here Today

    Lately I have had the feeling that I am nearing the end of the road. It isn’t a feeling of fear or depression or anxiety, it is just a sensation that I’ve been trying to better understand. I retired recently, so it could be that cutting loose the anchor of a daily schedule has set Read more

  • My 6th Sense

    [Ed Note: When I set out on this journey it was to task myself with regular creative writing. Little did I know (ah, those words would sink a flotilla) how much research would be involved to support what I imagined to be relatively minor efforts. A very loud, collective “Ha!” is heard from the Experienced Read more