Let's take a walk

We got a dog last summer. This one. Biscuit. He’s the kind of good boy everybody wants to say hi to when we’re out walking. He collects instant best friends. There’s Rob at the rehab center along the rail trail, smoking his cigar each night. Stacy at the mechanic’s. The janitor at the middle school where we walk laps. Last night it was two high school girls on their way from volleyball practice to Bruno’s for pizza.

They love on him and he licks their faces, and we all stand around chatting about nothing really at all. The nice weather. How happy the dog is.

I’m imagining this newsletter as a similar kind of evening stroll and connection-maker. As a place where friends chat and tell stories. A moment’s respite from the unremitting headaches and heartaches of an era rife with ugliness. I’ll talk about writing, teaching, family, what I’ve read lately, what I’ve seen out the window (a red-tailed hawk this afternoon) and all the thoughts/memories/dreams I can’t otherwise shake. I say about Biscuit that his job is to deliver love to everyone he meets. But I’ll let you in on a secret: that’s the job I want.

So welcome! And thanks! See you around.