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trial of the century

Relationships

Trial of the century

Photo Credit: Lovisa Photo    Carol had stumbled across an old blog where I’d recorded that Carolyn had once told me I was the most romantic man she’d ever met. “Wait,” Carol said, “she thought you were the most…etc., etc…” The incredulity that hung in the air was so thick you could hit it with […]

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Reid and carol Photo credit: Lovisa Photo

Relationships

A murder of pronouns

Photo credit: Lovisa Photo    The other day Carol referred to “our” new air fryer as “your” new air fryer. Later she returned from running errands, and said, “I took ‘my’ car to the car wash.” And she added, “By the way, did they deliver ‘your’ wine order?” Maybe it’s the quarantine, but I’ve found […]

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red beans and rice ingredients

Relationships

Red beans and rice

   It happened again, just the other night. I’d gotten up from the couch, a rare enough daily occurrence that it prompted a comment from Carol. At the time, I was headed for the freezer to take out some cornbread for dinner that evening. The cornbread was to go with the red beans and rice […]

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Relationships

A COVID Christmas

   I asked Carol if she was feeling the Christmas spirit this year, and she just shook her head. I really didn’t have to ask, though. She’s already had to miss all her grandchildren’s holiday shows, because there weren’t any. She’s not going to see her beautifully wrapped gifts torn apart by small, impatient hands. […]

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Relationships

Slow Times at Ridgemont High

Here’s an example of one of my earliest icebreaker/pickup lines. See if you can see what it might have foretold of my future as a “player.” I was working at my first job in a snowball shop. I had my back turned to the window. And when I turned I was startled to see two […]

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wood burning stove Yosemite

Relationships

Giving thanks where you find it

With both our families either being isolated or atomized in different locations because of the pandemic, putting the thanks in Thanksgiving might have seemed a threadbare task this season. But Carol found a sweet little cabin near the recently renamed Yo Semite! National Park that promised a more positive spin on the phrase “cabin fever” at the start of this inaugural Covid-19 Holiday Season.

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Relationships

“Well, you’re wrong.”

Monday was just going to be an easy prep day of shopping and perhaps a little pre-packing for our short Tuesday and Wednesday trip to Crystal Cove, a scenic state park of 1930’s era cottages along Laguna Beach’s oceanfront. Monday morning, however, my phone buzzed the calendar notice, “Crystal Cove.” “Hey, I thought you said […]

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reid and carol espresso

Relationships

New Beginnings

I initially saw Carol walking across the parking lot. It was my first live sight of her, but I recognized her immediately. Then her gaze met mine, and I was at that moment of truth only matadors and people taking that first sip of milk that has turned know.

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Relationships

Long day’s journey into night

I don’t care for people who talk about their diets. They go on and on how wonderful it is, how much they can eat and how great the food is

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Relationships

Training the beast

According to my Kindle reader, I’ve read from my Kindle library for 207 consecutive days. I checked. 208 days ago, Carol and I married; therefore, that was the last day I didn’t read my from ebooks. Funny, because that was the very day Carol started reading War and Peace.

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