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.
Select a category from the drop down menu:
The Long Row
Duck. This is about grief. The recent cold spell put a real freeze on the house, literally and metaphorically. The cold came and it seems as though it never left. There is no warmth in the house at all. Just a dark chill.
Dinner Date
Home again. Home again. Made the long slow drive west without incident. I traveled on a road I once disdained as too slow and tortuous.
Playing Fields
I went to a high school junior varsity track meet yesterday. My varsity grand-daughter was running to post some times and warm up for district.
Arranging Bones
Memories are the skeletons of our lives, the things that build the present. Some are good, some are bad, and some are nothing really at all. And interesting enough, with perspective, they move around.
Hummingbird
All the leaves are brown, against the blue sky, and it’s obvious something hard came this way. The big oaks look weary. The leaves are burned, but oddly, none have fallen to the ground.
Wanna Buy a Bridge?
The other day I went searching for information on what happens when the earth’s magnetic poles flip. I found it. It didn’t really fit into the essay for the day. So, I moved on. The internet, however, has not moved on.
Almost Done 2
As I suspected, the snow in my little piece of Texas departed the scene with the arrival of the sun. Its exodus sped up when the temperature crossed 32. The pasture is once again wearing its brown winter uniform while the winter greens are still green.
It Comes in Silence
I like the silence of snow. It falls with grace and arrives in dignity. It’s in no hurry to leave, either. Unlike its cousin the rain, which splatters and clatters and is always rushing off to get somewhere else, snow sits around, enjoys the view, and waits for the sun.
Grandmother’s House
Well, this weather event is interesting, in that Chinese curse sort of way, may you live in interesting times. All week long I was looking toward today and relief, only to realize last night that we have another round of winter scheduled for today.
Almost Done
Woke up to the sound of snow melt this morning when I went out onto the porch. Our temperature is 33 and promises to go a little bit higher today. We’re still scheduled for hard, cold nights, but it seems the weather picture is shifting back to our favor here in Central Texas.
Origin Story
Welcome. Stay awhile if you want, but they’re short so they won’t take up a lot of your time.
A Good Break
I made a pot of beans yesterday. Which seems relatively mundane until you realize it took a crock pot eight hours to do it. And yesterday there were people unable to even heat themselves much less run a crock pot for eight hours.
Let It Snow
First, I am eternally grateful we still have power. Second, we’ve turned the thermostats down to 58, which isn’t something we do even in the dead of summer.
The Embrace
There’s a picture of a hug on my phone. It’s between me and my late wife. Her left cheek rests on my right breast, the top of her head close to my chin, her face turned to the camera. She’s smiling.
Hard Water
All my trees and plants are bowed down paying homage to water. It started yesterday with a thunderstorm in 30-degree weather.
The Brightest Flower
Last spring, I transplanted all my schoolhouse flowers. Moved them from the bed in the southeast corner of the yard to new spots around the house. There were enough bulbs that I was able to start three new beds.
Broken Things
As I was going about the business of tidying my yard and porches the other day, I noticed I have an inordinately large collection of broken pottery.