Year: 2017

Life and Island Times: Florida Backroads

Marlow had the lead for the day. They were traveling on roads with which he was very familiar. Oblivious to any residual bad luck, they putted past the scene of Steve’s final breakdown on US 19 before joining US 27. The Florida section of this original northern Indiana-to-Miami road still possesses much of its charm. […]

Happy Birthday!

I called Old Jim on the cell this afternoon. I had not talked to him for a week or so, and wanted to check in once I realized that it was his birthday. Heather and I were talking about it at The Front Page last night. Jon-without-an-H was on her other side, marking the four-month […]

Arrias on Politics: Why Don’t We Win?

Secretary Mattis: everyone seems to hope he’ll bring some sanity to national security. Perhaps he can even win these seemingly interminable wars. Maybe. But consider Hannibal: He was, perhaps, the greatest tactician in history. For 14 years he ravaged the Italian countryside; despite being outnumbered, he defeated every army put against him (in one 6 […]

Life and Island Times: Thoughts on Motorcycle Morality and Aging

Editor’s note: Many years after Steve’s decision to keep his Valkyrie he still has it along with a new Gold Wing. His devotion to this almost twenty year old family member prompted this loopy piece. Advances in modern motorcycle technology mean that motorbikes are living longer than ever before. This raises important end-of-road-life issues, as […]

Carol and Billie

(Tinker Belle and her distinctive ink behind the bar at Willow). Tinker Belle was serving the drinks behind the Willow’s long bar when I came in off the street. Admiral Mac Showers had already arrived, and I brightened when I saw that he was permitting himself an Anchor Steam beer, which meant that his session […]

Life and Island Times: Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

Is there anything a man don’t stand to lose When the devil wants to take it all away Cherish well your thoughts, keep a tight grip on your booze ‘Cause thinking and drinking are all I have today – chorus from the Grateful Dead’s Mexicali Blues The road had thought differently about the bikers’ plans […]

Higher Education

(Panoramic View of the Naval War College campus at Newport, Rhode Island). Willow was quiet that afternoon. It was a bit early for Old Jim to limp down the block for happy hour, and Mac Showers and I had were the only customers inside. A couple tables were full out on the patio, but the […]

Life and Island Times: Eff-Ell-A

Their bikes had been grooving and gliding the past two days. They had made good time and covered beaucoup miles across the southwest desert emptiness. If the bikes had been their dancing partners, they would have said that they were cutting a rug like they used to say back in the 1920s. None of them […]

Life and Island Times: Simply Slabbing

During the previous day’s wanderings, they had another near out-of-gas experience in the west Texas outback along US 380. It seems that these desert Bible-belt, God-fearing folks don’t operate their gasoline stations on the Lord’s Day. Their engines-off coasting into a Rotan Texas gasoline and quickie mart station occasioned several new candidate nicknames for Augustus […]

Blue Ribbon Panels

Willow was just starting to take on the energy of the post-work Happy Hour Crowd. Liz-with-an-S was behind the bar, and working some of the questions for admission to the Virginia Bar. She is already admitted to New York and New Jersey- but that wasn’t quite good enough to crash the protective gates of the […]