My Birthday. Again.

“Why don’t we try that French place, Reynard’s?” I asked.   “It’s your birthday, my wife said. “We can go wherever you want.”  “Reynard’s it is, then.” (Not the restaurant’s real name, but it’s easy to figure out.)  To celebrate my fifty-third...

Bad Tippers in The Hands of An Angry God

After my daughter started playing soccer on Saturday mornings, we quickly settled into a little routine. As soon as the game is over and the soccer moms and dads finish stowing their foldable living rooms into their SUVs, I take Natalie to Panera’s for breakfast. She...

There Will Always Be Horses

After my wife got her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Saturday, she told me, “I’m starting to feel like shit. You’ll have to take Natalie horseback riding tomorrow.”  “No problem,” I said. “Have you ever ridden a horse?”  I had to think about that for a...

Deserve’s Got Nothing to Do With It.

I was eating at a local diner when a man, a busybody if there ever was one, decided to plop down next to me and start asking questions about the food pantry I run. After explaining how every bit of food and money we give away is donated by generous townsfolk, he...

Slow Down

“Steve,” my boss said over the telephone, “Can you come down to my office for a minute?”  “Sure thing,” I said, wondering what was up. My boss is a “hands off” type of supervisor. As long as I get my job done, he stays out of my hair – a blessing after years of...