(ROCKWALL, TX – March 15, 2020) Motoring the boat out toward the clump of trees, I was excited about the fishing spot. I knew the area but had not actually fished it. According to my sources, though, we’d haul in some good ones. It would make a huge impression on my buddy and his dad […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – Aug. 31, 2019) Social media rants where folks name and defame. Politicians attack, blame, call out, label, and ostracize. News channels drone everything as a “crisis.” And I could go on and on. I’m guilty, I admit it. I read the rants, I stew over the state of the country, and that news […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — January 5, 2018) In the handful of days before New Year’s, I’ve written a novel, taken up fly-fishing, and I’m presently becoming an elk hunter. Yes, that’s a bit of exaggeration, but each of those bucket-listers started as a resolution. I’m a list-nerd, a goal-monger, a resolution-junkie, you could say. Each year […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — September 29, 2017) The trail didn’t look as it did in daylight, and despite having a flashlight, a slight panic simmered in my chest. Was I going the right way? Forests change in the dark. Songbirds’ chirping gives way to crickets and owls, and blaring above all is silence. No motors rumbling […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – May 5, 2017) It was pitch black. My headlamp lit a path though the dark field to the edge of the woods and the perfect hide. Philip worked his way into the opening to set up some chairs while I placed the decoy where a turkey could see it after coming off […]
“What you need here, son, is a way to power the trolling motor from the rear battery,” Dad quipped as he rubbed his chin, then we drove down to the hardware store and found a blue electrical box (the kind you see installed in houses for wall plugs) and a couple of brass screws. He […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — Dec. 14, 2016) One Christmas several years ago, we were broke. I don’t mean the we-aren’t-going-to-have-as-big-of-Christmas-broke, I mean the complete lack of any money. The no presents, no Santa, no-Christmas-kind-of-broke. I don’t remember the reason whether it was a string of medical bills or a load of untimely repairs; all I remember […]
(ROCKWALL, TX — May 2, 2016) Brennen, our 17 year old, scrambles through the house gathering cleaning supplies. “Can I borrow a vehicle? I have a boat to scrub.” He’s only got a small window of time before lacrosse practice. A traffic ticket looms and he doesn’t want to miss practice again to work up […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – Dec. 17, 2015) Traditionally, every Christmas season I either read or watch Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It just feels like the holiday should feel: the snowy streets, roasted chestnut peddlers barking their fare, and carolers bunched up serenading passers-by. I love the scene when all the Cratchits gather for their simple Christmas […]
(ROCKWALL, TX – August 10, 2015) The bluegill; a small, often disregarded fish compared to the great gamers like the temperamental largemouth, the finicky trout, or the powerful striper. Also known as the bream, panfish, or (in Texas) the perch, it’s the fish of our childhood, and for most, the first fish we ever caught. […]