I fell yesterday. I was coming around our bed, full steam ahead (I tend to walk fast) when I tripped on the corner of my new upholstered bench at the foot of the bed. I am not accustomed to a bench being there. My left leg got caught, and the rest of me had too much forward momentum to avoid a fall.

Of course, I couldn’t fall on the upholstered bench. Oh, no. I cleared that. Man, it was like slow motion. I saw the hardwood coming up at me. And of course, I threw my right arm out to…

I think I know what makes Shannon Ashley so popular on Medium.

It’s simple. It is because of her honesty. Readers love honest words — words not contrived to make oneself look good — but words that show the author in real life in bright technicolor.

Shannon’s pieces tell it like it is and dare us to judge her for her raging humanity.

She tells us about her weight, her housekeeping, her past and present mistakes, her family, and her misgivings. She does so cleared-eyed and vulnerable with plain words and simple sentences.

She doesn’t try to exalt herself or…

Joe should have said, “just don’t kill him.”

Joe Biden will probably catch a lot of flack for saying police, rather than killing someone, should shoot them in the leg. He said that in Wednesday night’s town hall. But he meant use non-lethal force. He’s not a police professional and it’s perfectly understandable he wouldn’t know what police are supposed to do instead of killing someone. I immediately knew what he meant — use non-lethal force.

Police always shoot to kill. Already, I saw a police officer on social media saying no cop would suggest such a thing. Biden probably…

But it’s going to be ok.

I haven’t written much since my mom had a fall, a subsequent brain bleed, and wound up with dementia. Then in January she had to have an old knee replacement redone, so she had to go through another surgery. That took its toll, too. I guess I haven’t had much to say these days.

It’s like losing someone pretty much completely — and yet still fiercely loving whatever is left — even if she’s no longer herself. Sometimes that person we knew isn’t recognizable in dementia. But there are times when mom’s indomitable nature still shines though and I alternately…

Fiction

They worked together at their adrenaline-fueled jobs. Both were very good at what they did. And they loved it.

They played together when they weren’t working. They played well, too. They laughed and fell into each other’s arms with pure joyous abandonment. They were perfect together. They were envied. They had beauty, skill, and brains. Moreover, they were just right, a powerful, well-matched couple. It was assumed they’d marry someday and raise sturdy, sunny, curly-haired children.

Young, strong, smart, and brave — the people everyone wants to be. The couple who fit together perfectly. They loved and laughed and often…

There’s no longer a “both sides.” There is the United States, a democratic republic, and a bunch of half-baked domestic terrorists who wanted to kill our lawmakers, did kill a police officer, and would have laid waste to our Capitol and claimed our country for the fascist.

I’m sick of hearing about “both sides,” because there is nothing relatively comparable about law abiding citizens guided by a Constitution and a Rule of Law and a bunch of riled up outlaws with no respect for our country or the concept of democracy.

Finally maybe the FBI will arrest and convict enough…

A woman rang our doorbell last night.

It’s unusual for the doorbell to ring now, since the pandemic. No one comes to our door and we go to no one else’s. It’s dangerous to go to other people’s homes, and dangerous to let people in who do not live with one.

So, the doorbell rang. It was pretty late in the evening. We were surprised. My daughter and I both went to the door from different parts of the house. She has a friend who rings the doorbell and then goes back to his truck so she will come out…

Someone who uses this description for himself responded to one of my stories and told me, “It is unwise to infuriate people.”

Was that just advice or a veiled threat? I really can’t tell, but the way things are nowadays it didn’t read just right. It didn’t sit well with me, even if they were just telling me I’m not wise.

And I guess I’m not, because I’ve been infuriating people with what I write for most of my life. I have never let that stop me.

The official who stole public property was infuriated at me for investigating and…