THE PIZZA BAKING SHEET

When I lived in Eugene from 1991 to 2000 I had a round aluminum pizza baking sheet.    I believe it was past down from the years of my first marriage.   Over the years it became dented and beat up from much use, even turning black.   Most the pizzas baked on it were home made using BOBOLI Pizza Crust.  Toppings consisted of using left over veggies or whatever else looked good from depths of the refrigerator.   Luckily I don't remember anybody ever getting sick from the toppings that may have been used a little beyond their expiration dates.  Every time the baked pizza was cut using a round pizza cutter more dents appeared in the baking sheet.    My daughter had a friend that occasionally ate dinner with us including a few pizzas.   On one occasion the friend asked, "is that a hub cap you bake those pizzas on?"  

THE ASHLAND POET

Every year during the week after Christmas my family gets together in Ashland for a few days to celebrate the holidays.  My son and his family come up from South Lake Tahoe, my daughter and her family come down from Portland and their mother comes down from Salem.   One evening this year my son, his wife and grandson Connor were kicking a soccer ball in the park near the center of the city.  I was off to the side watching when a young woman walked by me asking how I was doing?   She may have been 40, well dressed and did not look homeless.   She was carry a bag of poems and asked if I would want to buy one as she was trying to collect enough money to buy a pizza for her boyfriend and her self.  I became a little suspicious, but I asked her to read one.   The poems were written on brown paper that I think was cut from brown paper bags.   She took one of the poems from the bag and recited to me.   As she started it reminded me of my loss of Celia and brought tears to my eyes.  I don't recall all of it, but it started out--searching in solace for what we've all lost.  Not hearing those haunting sounds, not alone in our souls...  I do have the little brown papers of the poems but find it hard to read.   I told her it reminded me of the loss of my wife, she was very sympathetic and gave me a second poem.  I gave her $20 in hopes she would buy the pizza and hopefully not drugs as she walked off.    In some ways she made my day and I hope I contributed to hers'.  

 

BLACKOUT

Last night I was sitting in my chair reading on a stormy night.   About 7:30pm the light flickered and a few seconds later the lights were out.   It was pitch black as I sat in the chair knowing the flash light was on the table by the bed in the next room.   I don't recall such blackness, not a glow of light anywhere.   It was like having my eyes closed.   I slowly made my way toward the bedroom with arms stretched out feeling for furniture and the walls.  I made it to the bedroom door, then to the bed feeling my way to the bed side table where I turned on the flashlight.   After lighting some candles my neighbors called to ask if my power was out as they had lost power also.    Later we learned most of the northern portion of Douglas County was without power due to storm damage to the BPA transmission line to the north somewhere.    After receiving some text messages about the situation I retired to bed thinking how unprepared I am for a long term power outage; dirty diches in the kitchen, have not started the generator in the last year, camp stove somewhere in the shop and way too dark to deal with any of it on a stormy dark night.   My biggest fear--how would I ever make coffee in the morning?   At 9:30 the lights came back on and I could rest easy knowing I would not have to boil water on the wood stove in the morning for that precious cup of coffee.