I long… I long to breathe in my son’s boundless energy – his youth and exuberance about damn near everything, while I still have the chance. I long to walk in England and get all giddy on Baker’s Street, to explore the pubs and streets of Ireland, while I still have the chance. Let meContinue reading “Final entry from a Big Sur writing retreat – part X”
Category Archives: From a Big Sur writing retreat
From a Big Sur writing retreat part IX
The smell of stale cigarettes and cold coffee filled the hot Buick Park Avenue. Its air conditioner died a year ago. I was grateful for the bit of breeze I felt on my face when I climbed from the driver’s seat. Covering a jumper on Midgley Bridge wasn’t how I wanted to start the morningContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part IX”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part VIII
24 moments that shaped my life Some day I hope to write about these things, if I haven’t already. 1. The moment she whispered in my ear 2. The moment I heard the gunshot 3. The moment the phone rang at 3 a.m. 4. The moment the nurse tried to leave with my newborn sonContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part VIII”
From a Big Sur writing retreat Part VII
The road map of my life I’m told it began in California and from my earliest memory that’s been the case. Happiness blossomed for me in California. I liked everything as a child and I quickly became a pop culture fanatic, devouring everything from the Six-Million-Dollar Man to standing in line for the 1989 premierContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat Part VII”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part VI
Damn you, Aquaman There is a kind of hunger for free time. Real free time. Without the damn dishes, the weekend laundry, or any chores whatsoever, without feeling pressured to write by my own OCD mind and just read any of the books I feel like reading, or paint. Or write. Or all of theContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part VI”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part V
Shove it in with a shovel-spoon One bag of macaroni shells A stick of butter A block of orange (radioactive orange) cheese THESEÂ are the things that subdued my anger, my sense of indignation at the world, and put an end to my whining to this very day. These three things my mom combined when itContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part V”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part IV
Nog and sap Anticipation in the house was almost palpable at Christmas time. Decorations, the large real tree, the Burl Ives and Bing Crosby holiday records; these were all lugged out of the big blue storage trunk the first week of December. Back then Thanksgiving actually included decorations that kept the event separate from Christmas.Continue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part IV”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part III
Sand and Budweiser I wasn’t sure it was a good idea at the time, and I couldn’t have been more than six. Uncle Vince, a family friend who wasn’t my real uncle at all, once held my brother and I by our ankles over the roof of a K-Mart while it was still under constructionContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part III”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part II
sunshine and gulls It’s skies are crawling with gulls. They sit on every streetlight – along Fremont and up the city’s spine, Broadway (now also called Obama Way). For Seaside, tucked nicely between Fort Ord and Monterey, it’s a fitting new name. I kissed a girl for the first time at Martin Luther King MiddleContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part II”
From a Big Sur writing retreat part I
He-Man and other childhood milestones I remember a lot of things, but not the sound of her voice. I remember when she took me to K-Mart and bought me a He-Man figure the weekend they came out. I can still feel his plastic muscles in my hands. I remember when she told me the truthContinue reading “From a Big Sur writing retreat part I”
Patrick Whitehurst 