Mark Myers's Blog, page 23

Swanson Glassworks

Swanson Glassworks had been a fixture in Portsong for nearly sixty years. Situated on a small knoll on the western side of town, it was the single largest employer in the county. The company produced tableware and stemware, rising to the height of its popularity with a single product at the turn of the century. […]

Does This Blog Make My Butt Look Big?

You can tell a great deal about a blogger by recurring themes in their writing. Obviously, Kylie is my most recurringest topic – followed closely by fabricated words and coffee. I’m not really a coffee snob, but I like my coffee bold and black. No frilly creams or flavors for me. One of my favorite […]

I Never Dreamed

I used to be a vivid dreamer. I don’t know what a psychoanalyst would say about this, but I had a constant companion in my nighttime capers – a penguin named Pingy. He wore his hat backwards and always had on sunglasses hiding bloodshot eyes. He was a bad seed, that Pingy. One of those […]

It Never Gets Old

I don’t have my trash picked up. Don’t worry, I’m no hoarder. Like any boy, I have always had a strange fascination with garbage trucks and like to see them crunch stuff to bits. It’s just that our county built a recycling center a mile from our house and I can carry my own trash […]

What’s in your Picnic Basket?

I’ve been thinking about that bear that killed a hiker in Yellowstone lately. I don’t generally keep up with the news – I figure current events are going to happen whether I know about them or not and most of the time when I read the news, I get depressed about the state of man. […]

The Snake I Didn’t See

Did you know that a snake can lunge and envenom a person for up to an hour after it has been killed? Seriously! What power of darkness is this? I learned that fact when my children were very young. We live in the woods and have taught them the rules about snakes: see snake, run screaming […]

The Empty Chair

We spent last week at the beach – a familiar condo we’ve visited several times. When the summer schedule was being formed, there was no question whether we would go. At issue was how hard it would be without Kylie. She is an ever-present mist coating our lives, so almost everything is hard. But not […]

Our Daily Bread

I remember when we worked with the builder to draw up the house plans. After having the master bedroom over the garage in our first house, we decided to separate the two when we built our current home. I’m glad of that – especially since we now have teenagers who come and go long after I’ve retired. […]

Our Greatest Fear

What is your greatest fear? What is it for you – that thing that gives you shudders just to think of it? Thunderstorms? Dogs, snakes, spiders? Heights or maybe confined places? Perhaps it is something psychological like public speaking, failure, or being alone. Most of us are afraid of death. Everyone has something they fear […]

The Demise of my Big Johnson

I’ve had my Big Johnson for as long as I can remember. It was perfect to me and I’m not sure how I will get along without it. While age brings irreplaceable experience, it also can cause damage and wear. Moving parts are bound to produce friction and friction causes tiny chinks in the mechanism. […]