Snacking on Elephants

  As I sit here listening to Dire Straits looking out at my patio, wearing my favorite Hawaii sweatshirt, I am distracted by the chair that my father occupied in June. He had flown to New York for my son’s high school graduation, and during his time here enjoyed sitting on my brick patio shaded by all of the trees in my wooded back yard.  "It's so peaceful back here." He would comment, as we talked for hours about life, family, work and children.  He would, as he always did, impart his 91 year old wisdom and serve as my ever present nonjudgemental sounding board.  That chair now sits empty, still covered in residual leaves from this fall, a constant reminder that my father is no longer here. Here come Johnny, gonna tell you a story Hand me now my walkin' shoes Here come Johnny with the power and the glory Backbeat, the talkin' blues To be honest, there was another time I wore this very sweatshirt. It was October 2, 2023.  This is a day I don’t think I’ll ever fo...

Last night I found myself sitting in my car outside a sports facility where my son had football practice a half hour from home, wondering what the hell just happened.  In the 11 days leading in, I had been on two transcontinental flights, worked 6 ten hour days on the other coast, a ten and a five hour day on this coast, spent half the day at a cheer competition, and right there in my car was settled in for an evening of football.  In between things, there were loads of laundry, dishes, packing and repacking, kid obligations, taxes, bills and a seemingly endless "To Do List."  In that moment, as I stared out into the rainy night with the street lights illuminating the raindrops on my windshield, it felt a bit like waking up from a chaotic tidal wave of busy.   Three little birds sat on my window, And they told me I don't need to worry As Corinne Bailey Rae played in the car, I reflected over the last 11 days and I somehow thought those three little birds were in...