Before turning southward onto a road that seemed more liquid than gravel I saw a kid barreling toward me on a four-wheeler, chunks of mud shrapneling the air and the vehicle yawing back and forth as if skating on ice. I pulled over and waited for him to pass. The nearer he came the less … More An act of violation

       She is forever there, imprinted in a thin layer of emulsion, a smile on her pretty face and the West Texas wind billowing her long flowing dress. Behind her a grainy, unformed mass of what appears to be creosote or catclaw grounds her to a desert landscape that could only be Chihuahuan, … More Last of the Parkers

For weeks I wondered about the rabbits, or the absence of rabbits. Our yard, once filled to overflowing, suddenly entered a dry spell with a dearth of bunnies, a lagomorphic erasure filling me with dread. I’d seen several feral cats about, including one nosing around the brush pile, but it fled before I could get … More The evidence of things unseen

Besides being a terrible time waster, the Internet occasionally shines as a tool for medical research. When I entered the doctor’s office I had a very good foundation of knowledge concerning knee injuries, treatments and procedural expenses. I understood terminology of both the knee and remedies for repairing various parts of the knee, which procedures … More Becoming whole

On the day Republican senators unanimously voted to repeal the Obama-led health care overhaul, my right knee took a turn for the worse. For weeks it had been hurting. As is common for those without health insurance, I put it off as a sprain, something that would heal given rest and time. The pain began … More Winners and losers

Even now, after only a few short months, I can’t remember the message in its entirety without digging through my files to locate it. I’ll re-read it, poring over each word for clues to my past. But mostly my brain gets stuck on one sentence, and try as I might to get past it, I … More The limits of memory

Something is missing in the new Kansas 150 stamp. I’m trying to not be snarky about my adopted state, but in the gush of emotions surrounding the state’s sesquicentennial, somebody’s got to stay focused on the basics. And the basics are these: the stamp is boring. And it’s missing something. The real question might be … More Blight on the land

Recently while we were in the “big city,” a description I use for any metropolitan area with a population larger than 4,000, we had a few minutes to kill and so at my wife’s insistence we stopped at one of the big box department stores that didn’t have W or mart in its name. What … More A whole new look

Afternoon. I open my eyes and see the edge of the comforter and the slatted blinds and the maroon edging on the lace curtains. White wintry light filtering through. The house soundless and still. What time is it? I guess half-past two but it could be later. In a groggy stupor, I study how the … More On the couch, a winter sojourn