THE ALTERNATIVE  (250 words)

It’s true. I recommended the age-old old-age topic to the Buckaroo. Cocky me thought I could write a piece so full of longevity’s rewards as to inspire universal admiration and anticipation among the young. Starting with “Sure beats the alternative” and thinking to mine a rich vein of elder advantage, I falter at “the alternative”….

A very rough draft of Jim Harstad’s memoir, ON HE RODE — Chapter Thirty-Seven

Looking at my naked self in a full-length mirror reveals a diverse palette of possibilities, some anticipated, some not. It seems that by choosing sudden baldness over the more gradual male pattern alternative, I have opened up other coiffure possibilities. In fact, invited them. Nay, demanded them. Judging by the preliminary stubble, I will have…

Dimming

Souza was the first to go, then Bert, then Bert’s wife, then Mark, then Joe, then Joe’s wife. Lights dimming, burning out all over the neighborhood, darkness descending, settling, stilling talk-story shouts, taunts, laughter. Visitors remark on the quiet. It’s so peaceful. The wind in the ironwood. The birds.

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