Category Archives: Memoir

I Can See Clearly Now – I

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Al

My paternal grandfather, Al, died when I was in the third grade. Born and raised in Miles City, Montana, he’d been through many incarnations in his 76 years. Deputy Sheriff in Custer County, banker in Omaha, steel worker in Seattle, … Continue reading →

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Give Me A Head With Hair

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Al

“Gimme a head with hair, Long, beautiful hair” March  18, 2020…For a week, it had been one “WTF?!?” moment after another. Sports leagues shut down. Colorado abruptly closed its ski areas. The French stopped eating in restaurants, even on the sidewalk. … Continue reading →

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Give Me A Head With Hair – II

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Al

Class pictures from Kindergarten through third grade show me with very short hair, sometimes long enough to lie flat, sometimes bristly short. My father had grown up having his hair cut in his family’s ranch-house kitchen in eastern Montana during … Continue reading →

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Gym Rat – II

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Al

Three years later at college, I joined the Freshman swim team. The coach, John Edgar, was actually the head of the football team. He sent aspiring team members a mimeographed set of exercises in September, urging us to consider going … Continue reading →

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Gym Rat – I

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Al

Christmas, 1961. Looking back, I’m wondering if my parents thought I might turn into an effete intellectual. Age 12, I was a poster child for pre-pubescent awkwardness. Baby fat pudgy cheeks hiding any facial definition, lips too large for my … Continue reading →

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