Don’t mess with Tony — Kids can be cruel. Socialization tames most of us eventually, but at my elementary school playground of the early nineteen fifties, only the presence of teachers prevented us from devolving into savagery, and the teachers couldn’t watch everyone at once. I am and was a wise ass. To be more…

New floor, new carpet — We are having new carpet put into two rooms this week. …

So what should I do now? — There is a body buried at my childhood home. I know that because I saw the gravestone, but there is more to the story than that. Summer, Early 1950’s I can’t put an exact date on this. I might have been as young as four, perhaps as old as six. It’s hard to…

And good riddance regardless of the cost — Our home in our new retirement community came with a whirlpool tub. …

A new challenge for the McEwan brothers — A wise old man asked his son a question. “If you cut down a tree, how much is it worth?” “I’m not sure, dad. £50 or £60.” “What if you cut it up into small logs and sell it as firewood?” “I could get £200 to £300 selling it to…

A strange reversal of roles — See that photo? That’s what bread becomes when I toast it. It looks the same on the other side, by the way. I mention that because it will become important later. Making perfect toast is probably easy if you have something like this ridiculously expensive Japanese oven (not an affiliate…

Your beast of burden awaits your command — My poor wife has fallen so many times in the past six years that we have lost count. I think it’s somewhere between 14 and 18 times, some accompanied by broken bones, but every one adding to her pain and disability. It started at a garden place. I had stayed…

Your beast of burden awaits your command — My poor wife has fallen so many times in the past six years that we have lost count. I think it’s somewhere between 14 and 18 times, some accompanied by broken bones, but every one adding to her pain and disability. It started at a garden place. I had stayed…

Your beast of burden awaits your command — My poor wife has fallen so many times in the past six years that we have lost count. I think it’s somewhere between 14 and 18 times, some accompanied by broken bones, but every one adding to her pain and disability. It started at a garden place. I had stayed…

Your beast of burden awaits your command — My poor wife has fallen so many times in the past six years that we have lost count. I think it’s somewhere between 14 and 18 times, some accompanied by broken bones, but every one adding to her pain and disability. It started at a garden place. I had stayed…

More gaps to fill — While it was tempting to spend more time on the aborted trip, the story is about Anna, not Charlotte or Lewis. We don’t know how Charlotte felt about staying in Madison. It could have been her idea, her wish. Anna may have been sickly, Charlotte may have been ill herself…

A baby to hold and love — Chapter two of the life of Anna Raymond Beardsley. The bed was not fine, the room quite small, and it was not a hotel. The birthing was attended to by the widow who rented her rooms to Westward travelers, and the birth struggles were already fading from Charlotte’s mind. …

A well told story has similarities to my family — Have you been watching The Gilded Age on HBO? We have been watching, including all the “Inside this Episode” bits that I usually ignore. I also have been watching the podcast which covers the episodes but also the real people who are mentioned in the tale. Mark Twain You may not know…

There were never any guarantees. Only hope. — It’s been 8 months. In the last few days, I haven’t thought about it. It’s relieving. And I feel guilty. Eight months ago, my world turned completely upside down and has been since. Nothing will ever be the same. Expected & Unexpected Hello! My name is Burk. It sounds like an intro to…

What it means when an infant points and babbles — and what you should do — We should all want our children to achieve their potential. Who wants to tie their kids to their apron strings and have them end up bitter and dysfunctional carers for you in your old age? Instead, help them become successful adults so they can pay for your nice retirement home…

Someday, someone will need to reckon with them — I didn’t know my neighbor was a hoarder until he moved. Joe was a retired 50-something living alone in a 3000 square foot house. He stayed after his wife left and after his kids moved away, lingering in a town hundreds of miles from the rest of his family in…

Photos, email, stories, do they matter? — I am ready for death. Don’t panic; I don’t mean I’m looking forward to it or am not doing everything I can to put it off. I just mean that I’ve done the other work: I have made all the arrangements I can to make my death easier for others…

Some things are best left unsaid — My oldest sister (Sarah Ouellet here) wants me to write about my father’s business. I can give you the parts that might be spun into an interesting story, but I am not going to tell that story. Not all of it, anyway. My problem is that I was part of…

And who happened to be my mother’s uncle — Lloyd Garrison “Chick” Davies was an unusual baseball player. He only played four widely separated seasons in the major leagues and four more in the minors, but he did distinguish himself playing for the New York Giants in the 1926 World Series, leading the National League with 6 saves and…