The Caregiver’s Tales
Tiny essays on life, nature, grief and other things that catch my fancy in the Texas Hill Country. Here’s how it all got started.
Tags
- .River 1
- 290 1
- A Resolution 1
- AAA 3
- AC Unit 1
- ALS 1
- ASCII 1
- Abandoned 1
- Abundance 2
- Abyss 1
- Acceleration 1
- Acceptance 2
- Accomodation 1
- Accomplishments 1
- Aches 1
- Acid 1
- Action 1
- Activity 1
- Adjusting 2
- Adoption 2
- Adrift 1
- Advice 1
- Again 1
- Agarita 1
- Age 7
- Ageless 1
- Ages 1
- Aging 6
- Air 1
- Air-tags 1
- Aircraft 1
- Alexa 1
- Aliens 2
- Alone 3
- Alpine 1
- Alvin 2
- Ambition 1
- American 1
- Amnesty 1
- Ancient Seas 1
- Anderson Fair 1
- Android 1
- Angels 5
- Anger 3
- Angles 1
- Animals 1
- Ankle 1
- Anniversary 3
- Anticipation 6
- Antiviral Meds 1
One More Thing
Things are changing. You might recall in 2023, after climbing to the top of Guadalupe peak and returning, I felt my life was entering a new period. I called it my Guadalupian Period, being as I’m a newborn fan of geology. And I was right.
Lucky Me
There’s a lot of mourning going on these days. People I know are passing left and right. The old crowd is getting smaller. Inevitable but still distressing.
Blowing Wind
Ah, the winds of change. My son who lives with me is considering his own place closer to nature. I’m replacing my 20 year old golf clubs. I sent my big BBQ pit to Houston to live with my oldest son.
Dear Reader
I’ve been doing this for ten years, starting in 2014. Getting up. Almost every morning. Writing a few words. Posting them. First on Facebook. Then, in 2020, on my blog
Loss and Recovery
The death of my friend this week got me thinking about the death of my wife. A natural progression. It’s been three and a half years since she died.
The Next Day
Well, that was an interesting exercise. Five days. Writing every day, getting ready for the next day. Usually, I do what I’m doing now. Sit down in the morning and write.
One Two
It’s moving day. We’re hitting the road. It will be a long drive back to Texas, but it’s all downhill from New Mexico. The weather here in Taos was great, and last night I watched it rain at home. Sweet.
Sunday Morning
I can tell I’m feeling good these days because my mind is swirling with ideas. Things to do. With my yard. With my music. With Gatewood Press. And in addition to swirling, the ideas are actually being put into action.
Details
The beauty of little things. Doing the dishes. Making a bed. Cleaning a bathroom. Tidying up the living room. Folding laundry. You can rush through them, or you can take your time.
On the River
I thought I had fallen out of love with camping. Bugs, weather, and discomfort having done me in. But when I stepped out of my tent this past Saturday morning, I realized we were still a couple.
First Word
I play Wordle. I love it. My opening word is alone. It has three vowels and four of the top ten letters. It works pretty well most days. But I got to wondering this morning why I picked it. Alone.
Home Again
I stomped my old grounds yesterday. I’m in Houston. My home for nearly fifty years. I love the freeways and the byways and the highways. The old streets and the new streets. The crowds. The traffic. The life it all represents.
Going Underground
I grow tired sometimes writing about grief. Partly, I suspect because I think, who wants to hear it all the time. But when you’re writing every day about what you see and what you feel, it’s hard to avoid.
Little Things
In the beginning, I wrote about the little things. The feel of a breeze. A trail in the grass. A star in the sky. Then one day. I wrote about the big thing.
Slowing to Look
Rode up the Devil’s Backbone yesterday on the way to a friend’s house in Gruene. Got stopped at the top by a gathering of sheriff’s vehicles with lights flashing. There was an ambulance and a fire truck, too.
My Fractal Life 2
I’m going to talk about the pattern I’ve seen as I dealt with my wife’s death in August 2020 and how it came about. This isn’t a road map. This is my journey.
Home
More Songs
No sleeping child in the front room, no sleeping child in the guest room. It’s just me so I slept in.
New Town
It’s me. Again. I’m back. I had a nice time off. Christmas went well. Spent a great day with the kids. Played music. Realized how lucky I was. Am. How lucky I am.
The Grind
This certainly feels like winter in Texas. My fancy watch says it’s 48.