Waiting for Charon
Colleagues Gary and Jennifer at a 13.8kV:480V substation located 4200' above sea level and 1000' below the surface of the earth. With all the de-watering, Styx dried up, so Charon switched to diesel powered tractors.
Posts
Dress for Success
Attire for the Underworld: I've been working in an underground gold mine and this is how I dress for work. Hardhat Headlamp Clear safety glasses Reflective Vest Equipment belt to hold carbon monoxide respirator and headlamp battery Brass tag stamped with name, company, phone number (so when they dig my body out of the rubble, they know who to call) Steel toe rubber boots
October’s Tomatoes
Between the apple trees nebulous vines bend to the earth, heavy with hard green fruit. Above, vines of south bound geese honk “Frost - Frost.” In the shade between the leaves, a glimpse of red leads my hand to fruit, plump and ripe. Polished on my shirt it is crisp and sweet. How wonderful were the summer’s tomatoes, red fleshy fruit of my labor and love? These vines that I nurture nourish me more than the waxy, tasteless fruit of convenience. We need more time, these autumn vines and I. This hard green fruit could feed the world. It’s the inevitability of winter that makes October’s tomatoes the sweetest. ----------------------------------------- A long time ago, my fantastically talented friend Marshall Ralph wrote a poem "Green Tomatoes" for a poetry slam in Ketchum, ID. He read it to me in the office one evening. It was about winter bearing down on his green tomatoes and how he needed more time to fully ripen. I moved into my new house in Elko last weekend. The previous o...