Blue Heron Day
“Blue heron,” was the first thing he said, and he pointed to a patch of sky to my left. This he had to say twice, as his first attempt was cancelled out by the ear buds I wear whenever I attend this path –– this valiant […]
Lucas J. Draeger
Banish me to a dark corner, chain me to a keyboard, and I will gladly be a word slave. I'd sit there all day, with only an occasional demand for a coffee break.
I'm a would-be (wanna be) author, middle aged, fairly repressed, but extremely BLESSED with an amazing wife and two brilliant boys.
For several years, I've been haunted by images of the starving, drug addicted, victimized teens of the streets. I write about them a lot.
Untangling Knots
In my teen years, I spent considerable time pondering the nature of knots. How is it, I wondered, that I can wrap up something like a string of Christmas lights in a perfect loop, stash it in a bin, and somehow, without the slightest manipulation of human […]
Kill Your Darlings
Tuesday I was soaring high. In the morning, I had a conversation with myself in the car – if you’re a writer, you have a lot of conversations with yourself; there’s really no point in feeling embarrassed about it – after all, what is writing, if not […]
The Imperfect Good
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest”. ~ Ecclesiastes ~ Most commentaries on the above verse […]
The Ndugo Me – Saga of a Mutinous Organ
2:33 am, Saturday morning, and I couldn’t sleep. This happens to me sometimes for mysterious reasons, but tonight was no mystery. I was in pain. It started out as a nuisance pain in my stomach–bad enough to keep me awake, but not severe enough to worry me. […]
Have a Scary and Unsafe New Year
I’m thinking of all the encouragements and admonishments people tend to hand out this time of year. “Have a healthy New Year” “Have a prosperous New Year” “Have a safe and happy New Year” That last one, which happens to be the most commonly spoken, perplexes me. […]
Christmas Message to a Future Father
It is Christmas Eve! This Christmas is a bit of a benchmark for our family. By the looks of it, this will be the last Christmas your little brother believes in Santa. I say he still believes, but he’s already considering the strong possibility that his parents […]
The Sin of Security – Missing the Point
“So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth…Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as […]
The Ameritudes
“Blessed are the poor in wallet, for if they work really hard, they will get a piece of the pie. Blessed are those who mourn their lack of the newest smart phone, for they will receive the most awesome model for affordable, […]
Why I Won’t Read (or Watch) The Martian
The reviews are nearly all positive, from critics as well as fans. Andy Weir’s novel, The Martian, is a brilliant piece of hard science fiction, and the film adaptation is a sterling representation, likely to garner Oscar recognition. I’m staying away from both versions. I’ll have to […]
