The fireplace kept us warm while we sat on the couch and drank bottles of Little Tom. We would open presents soon. One of the perks of being Polish is that we always open presents on Christmas Eve instead of waiting until morning. In ’65 I would’ve been 6. When you’re 6 years old, anticipation…
Sal: I hate him. Colin: Yeah, especially his wind chills and arctic blasts. Sal: He’s like the devil, only colder. Colin: I heard he reads Jack London and laughs when the old man dies in To Build a Fire. Sal: I heard Liam Neeson put a number on him. He called him and used that…
40 years ago a major league career began in Cleveland. I originally published this story on this website in March, 2013. As a kid growing up in Cleveland in the 1970s I dreamed of two things happening. One, the Cleveland Indians would make it to the World Series. And two, my favorite player would make the highlight…
It’s common knowledge in the literary world that Moby-Dick is a long, arduous read. I have been paddling the murky waters of this novel since the better half of last year. I know of others who had started but never finished the journey. The way I see it, this book is either embraced by long…
One more time across every bridge in Cleveland circle the flats cross the river smooth, rhythmic strides to Whiskey Island touch the abandoned lighthouse and hightail it to Edgewater knees up, on toes along the sandy beach waves crash against our calves a sandstorm brews like the dust bowl behind us grains inside our socks…
Not all junk mail is bad. If he hadn’t taken the time to open last week’s batch of circulars and special offers, he would have never received the news. News that he was now a full-fledged member of the Adventure Club of North America for Outdoor Enthusiasts. Here’s how: somewhere along the line, someone found…
As a kid growing up in Cleveland in the 1970s I dreamed of two things happening. One, the Cleveland Indians would make it to the World Series. And two, my favorite player would make the highlight reel of This Week in Baseball. Well, the Indians never made it to the World Series. But one of…
Tracy Kidder writes in Home Town ‘how small a piece of time the living occupy’. In this instance he is referring to a place where a mental hospital once stood, now a mound of dirt covered in snow where children go sledding. This transformation is just one example in Northampton, Massachusetts – the physical cornerstone…
i make words go vroom. 