Ditches

One morning last week, Keith and I loaded the bed of the truck with a shovel, rakes, bush cutter, gloves, leaf blower, and ear-covers. We headed down the mountain road to pick up where we left off the previous week. The road is our lifeline so we clean ditches twice...

Perfect

Have you ever had a ‘perfect’ waiter or waitress? “Mixed green salad? Perfect!” “Grilled salmon with capers? Perfect!” “Crème Brulee? Perfect!” Yeah, I know, ‘perfect’ is all about buttering up the customer for a larger tip.   I used to love being...

My Father’s Bible

Presented to Raymond S. Duff, July 14, 1943, by Mother, Num. 6:24-26. My grandmother sent this Bible to my father when he was in the middle of infantry training in North Camp Hood, Texas. She referred him to a passage in the book of Numbers about God’s protection,...

Summer 1970

Not quite nineteen the summer of 1970, I was a member of The Edward Malley Company’s College Board. Malley’s was a now-defunct department store in New Haven, Connecticut, similar to and competitive with Macy’s. I worked retail that summer, spending the rest of my...