Old Ones Dream

Solidarity

I have talked with some interesting people on both sides of the 2024 presidential election. People who can be classified loosely in the following categories: Several of each party that reliably vote the party line. One unaffiliated but reliable Democratic voter who voted, but refused to vote for either presidential... Read more →

American Dirt: Identity Dirt

Jeanine Cummins’s novel “American Dirt” was released January 21, 2020. Based on the prepublication information and demand, Cummins was paid a 7-figure advance by Flatiron Books (as result of a bidding war involving 9 publishers). The back cover jacket quoted seven well known authors: Stephen King, Sandra Cisneros, Don Winslow,... Read more →

All Bets Are Off

On Wednesday morning Americans awakened to a new government-elect. There is evidence that many of those that voted for that new government were ignorant of what they were voting for. They were joined by voters who are willful informed supporters of the new government. Informed Americans know exactly what threatens... Read more →

The Year

The Year That year Was disappointing for Her but I never saw Her heart broken. In August Her spirit animal came, A Hawk. Her Hawk watched over her … until the day after Christmas when they flew away together. Brave Smart Generous and Wild We will always love you. To... Read more →

Oldone's Nightmare

In the dark hours before sunrise, when the snakes in my head begin to come out of hibernation, I get up. I sit in the dark and ruminate all that I have to be thankful for—and the light to follow. My snakes stay in my bed. One of the topics... Read more →

Two Weeks On

The following is admittedly an awkward oversimplification of an awful crisis, and is applicable to only one county in a twenty-five county dystopia in the southern Appalachian Mountains, hammered by a flood “unprecedented in modern times.” Two Weeks On Now it is two weeks since the arrival of Helene and... Read more →

Helene In the Southern Mountains

Everyone in Brevard, my home town, is unscathed—just inconvenienced. Out in the county the damage is much greater and many are without power for a week or more. They are not unscathed in the counties east, north and west of us. Poor people. Unspeakable suffering. Hundreds have died and many... Read more →

Chat GPT and Me

When asked what I write, I would sometimes respond that I write creative non-fiction articles that I publish on the internet and that no one reads. That is no longer true. My work, and that of other writers, is now being read by AI engines and then used to train... Read more →

Tanne Mouzon Brabham Traywick 1944 - 2023

Completion of El Camino de Santiago -October 2014 Tanne took flight December 26, 2023 at 10:47 AM. Said she was going to hike the AT. She was surrounded by her family and her close Camino companions. We took her body home with us and cherished her memory for 2 nights.... Read more →

No Country for Genius Siblings

When I picked up “The Passenger” by Cormac McCarthy I barely put it down until I finished. I had the same experience with “Stella Maris,” an addendum, or coda, to “The Passenger” but published 6 weeks later. It is all a mysterious tale of love, loss, guilt, grief, genius, insanity,... Read more →