Works
Good to the Last Drop: Living in Mortality's Shadow
Although I didn't realize it until I almost died, my journey as a writer, psychotherapist, and single father has been to try to figure out how we can make our lives meaningful in what increasingly seems the waning days of the Anthropogenic Era. How can we balance hope and denial?
Hope at the Edge
Years after nearly dying in the Pecos Wilderness, I return for a relatively tame hike on the Caribbean island of Grenada and discover it's almost more than I can handle. At the trailhead up to Mt. Qua Qua, the highest point on the island, a weathered wooden sign naively reminds Grenadians that they can protect the thinning ozone layer. On the difficult hike up, aging, memories, maybe a touch of PTSD, and the growing specter of climate change make me think about my past, my present and my future. At the top of Mt. Qua Qua, the winds chill me, the same trade winds that took Columbus across the ocean an eyeblink ago.
Dispatch from the Pandemic: Oak Park, IL
No vaccines yet. Downtown's a ghost town. People wipe down their mail and groceries. If two people approach each other on the sidewalk, one person walks across the street. Grocery shelves are stripped bare of toilet paper and disinfectants. Where do we draw our circle of protection? Do we include people we don't know, or have we descended into survival of just our family? My 30-year od daughter's concerned for me because I'm still seeing my psychtherapy clients in person.