Archives Side Roads

People keep asking me why I don’t change the background of my webcam to something other than my kitchen. “Put yourself in front of a nice shelf of books,” one person said. “Put yourself in a beautiful garden background,” someone…

I have an affinity for trees, particularly the trees in my own backyard. And after losing my favorite tree during a hurricane, I want compensation. Namely, a new tree. Forget cleanup costs. I want a comparable-sized tree next to the deck…

I drink too much coffee so I switched to tea. Even before my first cup, I felt superior to my coffee drinking friends. No more coffee breath for me. I scooped the tea (oolong, of course), and couldn’t help comparing…

When I was in grade school, we had a cartoon lightbulb named Lester who taught Gen X kids to turn off the lights when you left a room. I’m not sure where he came from or what happened to him,…

I am sitting at the kitchen table. A pot of something simmers on the stove. One cat is wrestling the other while the dog guards his food dish.  For so long I needed solitude to write. The slightest sound threw…

Everyone told me not to get a dog.  “You’re not home enough,” people said. “It’s not fair to the dog.” My mother had a different take on the situation. “A dog? You can’t take care of a Chia Pet.” Although…