tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238308992024-03-14T15:03:56.262-07:00SnowbrushSnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.comBlogger827125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-29516561676319829822024-03-13T13:13:00.000-07:002024-03-13T14:48:45.042-07:00A Son of the South Looks at the Civil WarRetreat from Bull Run (aka First Manassas)On an average day, 425 men died during America’s four-year-long Civil War. Although the country’s total population was but 19-million (it now stands at 332-million), more Americans died in the Civil War than in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War,
the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War,
combined.
OneSnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-61173035007846953332023-12-22T19:52:00.000-08:002024-03-13T13:16:57.173-07:00The Dirt on Peggy (there being none on me)Peggy (age 11) 1962When we met at Mississippi College in 1971, Peggy had just turned twenty and was shy, honorable, intelligent, soft-spoken, and had no bad habits. She was 5’3,” and had clear skin, brown-eyes, a medium complexion, weighed 115 pounds, had straight auburnish hair, wore light eye makeup, dressed quietly but appealingly, and laughed easily but never immodestly. Sherry, a girl I had Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-64967467430882686442023-11-01T13:18:00.025-07:002024-01-02T15:28:08.591-08:00 Invitation to a SuicideWalt and Lowell, 1994On September 14 at 11:00 a.m., Peggy held the hand of her friend, Walt, as he died of an overdose of drugs obtained through Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. Of the six friends he asked to attend, two declined, but one of them told dirty jokes over the speakerphone until Walt’s partner, Laura, asked him to stop. I became familiar with death through my work as a Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-2555919531547115262023-08-04T13:01:00.086-07:002023-08-17T11:09:24.683-07:00Coming to Age with a Transgender Father and a Germophobe MotherTommy 1909-1994When I was in my twenties, my father and I were installing office cubicles in the showroom of an empty car dealership when he fell from a ten-foot ladder and knocked himself out on the concrete floor. I called an ambulance and my mother, Kathryn, who beat the ambulance to the hospital. When the doctor decided to admit my still unconscious father, a nurse ordered Kathryn and me fromSnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-36290931628724885272023-06-07T14:13:00.026-07:002023-06-11T10:29:11.322-07:00What Things are Like HereSkinner’s Bird’s Nest IntroductionI wrote the following for a British blog buddy who wishes to honor me with a visit, but I then had the thought that it might interest others also...Eugene, Oregon, was founded in 1846 by an Easterner named Eugene Skinner. Upon surveying the area’s enveloping ridgeline from the 682-foot hill in the foreground of the photo, he said “it looked like a bird’s Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-80353201079110672612023-03-19T16:51:00.011-07:002023-04-14T11:05:01.370-07:005 tails, 10 eyes, 20 feet, 56 pounds, 90 toes, 120 whiskers, 150 teeth I hate it when people ask why Peggy and I have five cats because I don’t want to make her look bad for denying me my right to have ten. I ask her, “When I’m dead, won’t you regret preventing me from spending our life savings on cats?” to which she replies, “I’ll just be glad that I don’t have even more litter boxes to clean.” From 10:00 to 12:00 each night, I read in bed in the companySnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-85416836254458192972023-01-15T16:33:00.015-08:002023-04-14T11:06:19.344-07:00Why Straight Men Are So Weird About WomenMy Cat and i Girls are simply the prettiest things My cat and i believeAnd we’re always saddened When it’s time for them to leave We watch them titivating (that often takes a while) And though they keep us waiting My cat & i just smile We like to see them to the door Say how sad it couldn’t last Then my cat and i go back inside And talk about the past—Roger McGough Heterosexual men are Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-34327614699302229002022-12-18T11:53:00.010-08:002023-04-14T11:07:01.237-07:00The First 20 or so Things That I Love as They Occur to Me in the Moment Peggy, my wife of 51-yearsThe circa 1955 house in which we have lived for 32-yearsCats, cat art, cat poetry, cat cartoons, cat fiction, cat history, the cat goddess BastetMemories of my mother, my father, Peggy’s mother, my father’s mother, various dogs, and other beloved dead, some of whom I only know through what they left behindBelieving that my mother and father did the best they could Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-84646574481706597022022-12-16T14:08:00.001-08:002023-04-14T11:07:51.982-07:00The First 20 or so Things that I Hate as They Occur to me in the MomentMeghan Markle Big Pharma commercials BillionairesBig Corporationsthe Far Right the Far Left Fox Network People who neglect their pets, abandon their pets, or refuse to neuter their pets People who kill animals for fun Evangelicalism Catholicism Islam Antifa Neo-Nazis People who force their religion upon others People who cheat the elderly out of their life savings People who use nonprofits like Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-58008964292167623622022-12-01T11:31:00.035-08:002023-04-14T11:08:36.037-07:00The Animus Behind Thanksgiving and other American Holidays On November 24, America celebrated its second most popular holiday, Thanksgiving, which originated in 1621, when the 47 survivors of a contingent of 102 English religious dissenters celebrated their first Massachusetts’ harvest. As every school child knows, the Pilgrims came to America in search of religious liberty. What few school children know is that once they arrived, they murdered Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-35850642958262871012022-10-28T16:44:00.010-07:002023-04-14T11:09:14.551-07:00A Trumpian Named Skarlatos Page 1 of My Completed Ballot for the November 8 ElectionAlek Skarlatos first gained attention in 2015 when he was one of three men who subdued a would-be mass murderer on a French train. He was honored for his bravery by the presidents of France and America; made the rounds of America's radio and TV talk shows; appeared on Dancing with the Stars; and played himself in a movie. He is now a Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-20900341461000929852022-10-13T10:13:00.017-07:002022-10-26T11:54:02.761-07:00The Foulest Air on EarthToday, I feel queasy, my throat hurts, and my lungs are congested. I am experiencing these symptoms because Eugene's air smells nauseating, looks orange, and is currently rated as among the unhealthiest on earth due to the Cedar Creek Fire, which is fifty miles to the east and has been burning for six weeks. It has thus far destroyed 122,000 acres, killed a 27-year-old Michigan firefighter, and Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-45147151942463729772022-07-22T13:01:00.014-07:002022-07-25T12:13:04.072-07:00One Man’s Road to AtheismTo my regular readers, some of the following will be familiar. Most will not. I grew-up in an ultra-fundamentalist denomination named the Churches of Christ (people shorten it to Church of Christ). The women in my congregation weren’t allowed to teach Sunday school, and the men didn’t want to, so the preacher, Brother Miller, held a Saturday morning Bible study. That was where I first questioned Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-66063832977131622612022-06-01T13:25:00.016-07:002022-06-03T12:18:53.053-07:00Why I Will Shoot You Dead if You Try to Take Away My Assault RifleDemocrats are too stupid to realize that gun control laws won’t work because criminals won’t obey them. Gun violence is the price that a freedom-loving people pay for living in a free country.Without guns, peace becomes impossible. Despite having strict gun control laws, the people of Chicago and New York City shoot one another all the time. Clearly, gun control doesn’t work.Guns Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-36964357340670259072022-05-18T11:48:00.005-07:002022-05-19T16:49:35.907-07:00A Life in Pain As my regular readers know, I’ve suffered from significant middle-back, shoulder, and knee pain for many years. Eighteen months ago, I started developing low back pain. In February, it got so bad that my pain specialist ordered an MRI. When the radiologist said I might have a tumor, the pain specialist ordered a follow-up MRI. The second MRI didn’t show a tumor, but it did show “Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-10902641301715658312022-04-18T15:38:00.003-07:002022-04-19T10:08:53.212-07:00A Post-Surgical Update Here is how Johns Hopkins describes the surgery I had on Thursday: “A transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is surgery to remove parts of the prostate gland through the penis. The surgeon reaches the prostate by putting an instrument into the end of the penis and through the urethra. This instrument is…12 inches long and .5 inch in diameter. It contains a lighted camera and Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-43517169010001200492022-04-11T12:27:00.003-07:002022-04-18T15:50:36.020-07:00On Last Week’s Surgery and this Week’s Surgery Last Friday (April 8), I had a posterior capsulotomy. This is a laser procedure in which a hole is cut through a cloudy, post cataract surgery lens in order to allow the cloudiness to dissipate. So far, I’m not seeing any great improvement in vision, but the resultant floaters are driving me nuts. They are large and appear to move more rapidly than ordinary floaters. Depending upon where I am Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-19268773580221304972022-04-06T13:10:00.013-07:002022-04-09T11:58:35.508-07:00 All about Peggy: Part 2: Dancing with BearsPeggy’s first adventure with bears occurred while camped in the Arizona desert (the place was named the Coronado National Forest because of its ten-foot tall trees). Our camper consisted of a bear-defeating aluminum canopy mounted on the bed of a pristine white ’73 Datsun truck named Lolita. I so loved Lolita that I at least sponge-bathed her daily when we were away, including the engine Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-56558152556572806722022-03-17T11:59:00.006-07:002022-03-18T12:19:12.535-07:00All about Peggy: Part 1: The Tumor By September, 1971, Peggy and I were engaged. On the memorable day in question, we were in my parents’ backyard petting my little dog, Wolf (I grew-up naming all of my dogs Wolf, Sassy, or Tippy). I had just stepped inside for a glass of water when I heard Peggy emit an anguished cry that erased all thought of thirst. I ran to her side where, with trembling fingers, she pointed to a large, Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-49141334424200270442022-02-05T12:18:00.028-08:002022-02-08T12:04:40.747-08:00 Of What Good is a Cat?Peggy and I were married in late ’71; our friends, Lynn and Christy, in early ’72. Soon afterward, Christy got a kitten that she adored. After giving birth, she said that her eyes had opened, and she realized that her beloved pet was, after all, “only a cat.” Maybe the same fate will befall the woman who insisted that her cat understood every word she said and loved her completely. This hints at Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-76904163781487782032022-01-04T14:03:00.049-08:002022-01-05T11:45:48.134-08:00 We Form a Group Marriage In 1987, I took a job at the University of Oregon where I was instantly attracted to a woman named Ellen who conducted the group orientation for new employees. A former alcoholic, Ellen was also a movie buff who decorated her apartment with black and white glossies of yesteryear’s stars. She had grown up in a small Willamette Valley town and, after marriage, had moved to an even smaller Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-29552000674966154242021-11-22T11:39:00.008-08:002021-11-22T11:58:10.276-08:00We Arrive in Eugene We would have moved to Eugene a year earlier had Peggy been able to find work at Sacred Heart Medical Center (I did property maintenance and assumed I could find a job anywhere). As we sat in Fresno (see two posts back) with Peggy’s job running out, she called Sacred Heart to ask about job openings. The news was encouraging, so we drove up for an interview, and she was hired as an ICU nurseSnowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-9192874609734848862021-11-08T12:10:00.009-08:002021-11-08T12:33:40.496-08:00More of My Lurid Past and Other Sordid Tales When I left—I never graduated—Brookhaven, Mississippi’s high school in 1967, I had to choose between college and Vietnam. Happily, a tiny, local Methodist college called Whitworth offered me a scholarship. To say the least, I was surprised because in high school I had been… a disciplinary problem… skipped school regularly… failed to complete assignments… spent four summers in summer school Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-12219928349176389572021-10-20T12:52:00.024-07:002021-10-22T12:21:41.791-07:00My Lurid Past and Other Sordid TalesHad I not been a bearded atheist, liberal, intellectual, vegetarian, integrationist, environmentalist, pot smoking, Thoreau-reading, lover of freedom, I might not have felt lonely and isolated in rural Mississippi; and had I not felt lonely and isolated, I might have not remained in my seat (thirty feet from where a black man was lynched when I was six) when the district attorney told the grand Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23830899.post-63407075757564162082021-07-29T16:52:00.021-07:002021-07-30T09:21:13.047-07:00Visits to Hospital Sacred Heart Medical CenterWhat I’m about to share represents my memories and beliefs. Peggy’s memories and beliefs might differ.Two weeks ago to the hour, I was at Eugene’s Sacred Heart Medical Center where a pretty Hong Kong surgeon was blowing me up with carbon dioxide, driving rods into my abdomen, and using a robot to repair three hernias. Today, I drove Peggy to Sacred Heart for an Snowbrushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436087215476479042noreply@blogger.com31