I had a great time at Citi Field last night with Kevin and Julie. It was a little chilly out there in left field with the wind whipping around, but we had fun, the Mets won the game and even though we didn’t get a ball, there were quite a few hit our way during batting practice (it’s not easy to move after them when you have a cane and braces and have to fight off other people) so Sean is hopeful he’ll get one when we go to our next game. Now back to yesterday’s question, which was:
Who’s your favorite player that many people may not be aware of or have noticed, past or present?
There were lots of answers to this one, and Bucky Dent seemed to get a view votes from people along the way. I actually have a lot of favorites who could fall into this category. A lot of the guys I have liked, not just from the Mets but from other teams, usually weren’t the best player on the team. I like guys who try hard and are good team players, but I also root for the underdog sometimes. Two guys who come to mind immediately who I liked as players were Joe Rudi and Butch Huskey. Joe Rudi was a good outfielder, not a great one and clearly not the best guy on his team when you have Reggie Jackson in his prime, but he always tried hard, playing the outfield really well, getting clutch hits and helping his teams win championships. Butch Huskey played for the Mets for a few years in the early 1990’s and was a big, friendly guy who had a few good years with the Mets playing the outfield and first base. I always liked him; he wasn’t the fastest guy, the best fielder or the best hitter, although he could hit some home runs, but he looked like he was always trying hard and always having a good time playing. Michelle and I had the pleasure of meeting him one day during batting practice before a game (we also met Doug Henry and Brett Butler that day) and he was just the nicest guy, with a big smile who was glad to answer questions and sign some autographs for everyone. He even hit a home run the day we were there, which endeared him to both of us even more (though Michelle will always like Mike Piazza and Sid Fernandez better, I think). There are lots more guys I could pick, but I’ll save some of them for another day.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer and a special thanks to Cliff Floyd and Tobin Bell (if you don’t know who he is, he plays Jigsaw in the “Saw” movies, and is a big baseball fan) for answering me on Twitter. For today’s question, let’s try another easy one:
Who is the historical figure you would most like to have dinner with?
You can choose anyone you want, past or present, living or dead. Whoever you think would be the most interesting person to have a meal with, that would offer you good conversation, some good insight or maybe just a few laughs and a good time. Think about it and let me know. You can post your answer on here, or on Facebook or on Twitter. I’ll ask a few people on Twitter as well and see how they respond. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.
I am sitting here typing while I watch the Mets game, so I may also decide to add some more of my story as long as I am here and up tonight. We’ll see how it goes. Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening and don’t forget to do something creative today (it’s not too late, there’s still time left in the day)!
Filed under: Baseball, Questions | 4 Comments
Tags: baseball, Bucky Dent, Butch Huskey, favorite baseball player, having dinner with a historical figure, Joe Rudi, question of the day
I am going to try to do a quick post today. I was trying to get work out of the way since I am heading down to Citi Field tonight to catch the Mets play the Orioles. Let’s get right to yesterday’s question, which was:
In your eyes, what makes a good father?
Of course, there are a lot of traits that most people believe make up a good father. I thought about this a lot and decided that there is a difference between being a father and being a dad. Just about any male can physically be a father, but I think it takes a different mentality to be a dad. It takes commitment, flexibility, caring, humor and lots of love. My dad wasn’t always around when I was younger. He worked a lot of hours because he was trying to provide the best life he could for us as a family. He did make sure he did use the free time he had to do things with us. I think a good dad is the kind of man who makes the most of the opportunities he has to be with his children. I think a good father is an open-minded individual and realizes that society today is different from what it was, the expectations are different, and people are more open. He realizes that times have changed and people and society have changed as well and he lets his kids be people of the time, not people of his time. A good father is the kind of man who lets his kids make mistakes and realizes that they are human and making mistakes is part of growing up. Every kid does things along the way, and while they should be taught that consistent irresponsibility has its consequences, they need to learn some lessons on their own and not be judged by every choice and mistake. I think, most of all, that a good father is a man who leads by example. He’s a man who acts the way he wants his children to act. He’s a man who sticks to the values that he wants his children to have, and, most importantly, he shows love,affection and respect for the child’s mother, especially in front of the children. I think all these things add up to a good father and they are the qualities that I am striving for as a dad. It’s not always easy, but that’s part of the challenge of being a dad.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer yesterday’s question. Now, on to today’s question. As many of you know, I am something of a baseball fanatic. I try to go to a few games a year and I watch and follow the game daily, and I will incorporate that from time to time into the things that I write. So today’s question is geared towards the baseball fan:
Who’s your favorite player that many people may not be aware of or have noticed, past or present?
I am a big fan of the anonymous, Everyman baseball player. Anyone who can make it to the major leagues has done it because they are extraordinarily talented and they should be commended for that, but not everyone achieves the success of a Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth or Ted Williams. For every Hank Aaron, there are ten guys like Clint Hurdle, Joe McEwing or Alvin Davis. Some guys only last for a season or two, some guys play 15 years in relative obscurity, but they play and they have some devoted fans. So don’t think about the star player that’s one of your favorites; think about the guy who you like just because you thought he played hard and tried hard, even if he didn’t have a lot of success in his career. Think about it and let me know. You can post your answer on here, or on Facebook or on Twitter. I’ll ask some people on Twitter and see what they answer. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.
That’s it for today. I have to get ready for the game tonight. I would also like to thank everyone who took a look at my second post from yesterday. I noticed a number of people read through it. I hope it gives you some insight. I hope to also post the next installment of “Below the Surface” on Thursday, so look for that. Until then, enjoy your day and don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Baseball, Family, Questions | 3 Comments
Tags: being a dad, being a father, being a good dad, everyman baseball player, question of the day, what makes a good father
An Anniversary I Can’t Remember
I always have a tough time this time of year. Three years ago yesterday is the anniversary of the first time I died. The only reason I know that is from reading Michelle’s posts on Facebook and what she has told me. From what I have been able to put together, I guess it happened when they were putting me on the ventilator to help me breathe.
Those of you who know me personally know much of this story already, so I apologize in advance for going over it again, but keep reading on down because you may find out a few things. For the readers I have who don’t know me, back in early June of 2009, my son and I both came down really bad colds. We both got fevers and Sean went to the doctor and started taking antibiotics. I stubbornly did go to the doctor right away. By June 7th, I went to the hospital because I felt like I had the flu. They sent me home, saying there was nothing they could do and just ride it out. This was all occurring during the whole swine flu/H1N1 breakout. On June 8th, I went to my doctor to get checked and my fever was up to 104 degrees. He told me to go to the hospital and they admitted me. I remember getting to my room in the hospital and that’s the last thing I remember until waking up nearly 4 months later at a different hospital. From what I have been told, I had a really high fever and no diagnosis as to what was going on. They ran every test under the sun to try to determine what was making me so sick but couldn’t find anything and I just kept getting worse. my oxygen levels got worse and worse as the fever stayed until they finally decided I could no longer breathe on my own. I was in a coma when they put me on the ventilator and apparently died during the procedure and was revived. I was too sick and unstable to move to another hospital so I had to stay where I was until I stabilized, but I wasn’t stabilizing, things just kept getting worse. The hospital I was in is our local community hospital and they just weren’t equipped to deal with an illness like mine, whatever it was. Michelle and all my family and friends sat by, worrying and praying, hoping for something to happen. Things would improve for a day and then get worse for 2 days. Finally, after much waiting and haggling and pulling strings, they were able to transfer me to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and I was placed in the ICU there. My lungs collapsed and had 4 chest tubes inserted into me to help me breathe.
Everything went back and forth this way until July 11th, when they would start taking me off the ventilator and had me breathing through the tracheotomy tube I had at that point. I was on high doses of pain killers and sedatives which they had begun to wean me off of and still couldn’t talk. I apparently was awake at this point, but I don’t remember any of it. From what I have been told, I would try to scream and cry in pain. This went into August, when the doctors, feeling that my window for recovery was slowly closing, decided to try a procedure that they hadn’t before where they reversed the flow of the chest tubes and pumped antibiotics directly into my lungs to try to clear the infection. Thankfully, it worked. I was slowly weaned off the ventilator, antibiotics, pain killers and all kinds of other medications. They began to do some light physical and occupational therapy with me until on September 1, 2009 I was transferred to Helen Hayes Hospital in Nyack to begin rehabilitation.
This is really when I start to remember things. I do remember a few days at Columbia, but not really and it’s all pretty hazy. I remember clearly getting into the ambulance to go to Helen Hayes and being transferred there and everything that happened there. I think I can honestly say, at least as far as I remember, that it was the hardest 2 months of my life. I had to re-learn how to do everything. I couldn’t really do anything when I first got there and underwent physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and breathing therapy. When I first got there I could barely move anything at all, was still using the tracheotomy tube to breathe, had to have a speaking valve in place so I could talk and still had all kinds of tubes coming out of me. The therapists there worked me hard to get me moving. I was in some kind of therapy from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon with a break for lunch. It was hard, it was exhausting and it was totally worth it. They kept pushing and pushing me with the goal of getting home. I re-learned how to brush my teeth, hold a pen, feed myself, dress myself, breath and walk. I spent weeks in a wheelchair and was still on oxygen 24 hours a day. Twice they pushed back my release date because I needed more time to heal. When I was finally released on October 31, 2009, I went home with a walker, leg braces and portable oxygen, but at least I was home.
Physically, I am sure I have healed better than the doctors expected. I worked really hard and had a great group of family and friends who supported, visited and prayed for me the whole time. I heard of prayer chains all across the country that included me. The doctors told Michelle and me at various points that I would have to use a walker for the rest of my life. I stopped using it in early 2010. They told me I could be on oxygen for the rest of my life. I was off of it by December of 2009. After an additional 7 months of outpatient physical and occupational therapy, I am much better, though I still wear the leg braces and walk with a cane. On very humid or very cold days I sometimes have trouble breathing from the scarring of my lungs. I have scars on my throat, chest and stomach from all the various tubes they had in me. Goodness knows what, if any, long-term effects I may have from the 2-3 x-rays a day I received for almost 3 months or the extensive amount of time I was on extremely high doses of various pain killers, steroids and sedatives. I still have pain in my feet and from what the doctors say permanent nerve damage there from all the medications and from being in the coma for so long (There still, to this day, is no actual diagnosis to what caused all this).
There’s more to it than that though. What happened to me changed me mentally. Whether I like it or not, this whole experience has had a life changing effect on my life that I have to deal with on a daily basis. I don’t like to bring it up a lot; the people around me had a hard enough time living through it while it was happening so I don’t like to bring it up very often, but I need to vent about it sometimes. That’s where this blog comes in. I need a place to talk about it sometimes. I still have nightmares about hospitals and what it was like to basically be trapped in my own body. The things I remember about the hospital are few and unpleasant, but there are also things that I remember that never actually happened. There was a whole other world going on in my mind while I was in that coma. It was my own private world where things were happening and people existed that weren’t real at all, but they were to me. That’s the only point of reference I have. It bothers me to no end that there is this 4 month gap in my life where nothing exists for me other than what people tell me happened in the hospital. I have no point of reference for anything at all; it’s like that time doesn’t exist for me, even though it did in the physical world and in that world that went on inside me.
And then there’s the question of dying. I have read a number of things on people who claim to have had near-death experiences or experiences of some kind of afterlife for the moments they died, but I can’t relate to any of it. Most of what I have read, the people who have experienced these events were awake in some way before and after the event. I have neither to refer back to, no timeline, no idea of what was occurring. I can’t place that moment in any kind of timeline of what I remember going on in my head, so I have no idea whether what I saw or experienced was happening while I was dead for that brief moment or not, and I find that incredibly frustrating. Everyone tells me you don’t want to remember anything and it was unpleasant; granted, it was unpleasant, but I only know that because that’s what I have been told. Part of me wants to remember some things, or more to the point I want to be able to put what I remember into some kind of context as to what was happening to me physically, and there just doesn’t seem to be a way to do that.
So I go on. I see doctors who look at my file and hear my story and say “Well at least you are alive.” Yes I am, and I am forever grateful for the fact that I wake up in the morning when every doctor was preparing Michelle for my death. But I’m not satisfied with just that. I would like to find a doctor who can help me with the pain I still have and hopefully solve it, but there are times when I need to talk about what happened to me. For a long time after I got home, everywhere I went and everyone I saw I had to go over the events with. Time has eased that and I do appreciate the fact that so many people have had me in their thoughts and still care about my well-being. I can’t express my gratitude enough for what everyone did and continues to do for me and my family. While time goes on and we try to move past it, I have come to the realization that I don’t think I can ever completely move past it; it will always be part of who I am now, whether I like it or not. Over time, I’ll come on here and write about things – things I remember, things I want to forget, people who helped me and saved me and reflections on how it all makes me feel. Sometimes it will be in the form of writing like this, sometimes I’ll incorporate it into my fiction, but bear with me. Sometimes I have to let it out somehow. There’s still a lot to be said about it.
Filed under: Memories, My Story | 7 Comments
Tags: anniversary of my death, hospital stay, my story, swine flu
I had a very nice weekend this week, getting spend some time with friends on Saturday and then Father’s Day yesterday. Michelle and Sean made me feel very special with brunch yesterday at home. We all chipped in and did some cooking, which will provide me with recipes all week at onedadskitchen.com if you want to check them out. For now, let’s get down to some writing because I have a lot of things I want to cover today in a couple of posts. Friday’s question got some great responses. In case you don’t remember what the question was, it was:
What is your favorite ice cream?
I got lots of answers to this one, and a number of people picked the same ice cream. The personal favorites seemed to be mint chocolate chip, vanilla and coffee. As I said on Friday, I am not a big ice cream eater, but everyone once in a while I do feel like having some and there’s really only one kind I go out of the way to find, and that is Ben & Jerry’s coffee Heath Bar crunch. There’s something about the combination of the crunch and toffee flavor of the Heath Bar with the coffee ice cream that is spectacular. I can’t always find it in the store, but when I see some I get some just to have it around for when I want it. I do also like Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake bars; I’ve liked those since I was a kid and can remember getting them from the ice cream man. When we lived in Ozone Park in Queens when we were kids, the guy who lived next door to us was a Mister Softee ice cream truck driver, so we had the ice cream man around a lot. I can remember getting bomb pops, strawberry shortcake, the circus surprise pop (I think if you got the lion on your stick you got a free ice cream) and for the Bicentennial they had Boston Tea Party Pops, which were frozen iced tea Popsicles, which were yummy. We don’t see the ice cream man much around here, and when he does come around it’s ridiculously expensive now (and he doesn’t have soft serve like Mister Softee did), so the alternative is the local ice cream stand. There are a few good ones around here, and we have Mr. Cone here in our area. When we go, I usually get a banana shake from him.
That’s my ice cream choice. Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the question and a special thanks to Tyler Florence, Geoffrey Zakarian, Robert Irvine, LeeAnn Rimes and Jerry Seinfeld for taking the time to answer me on Twitter. Now for today’s question. I had meant to post this yesterday, but got busy with all the Father’s Day activities and never got around to the computer yesterday, so here we go. Thinking about Father’s Day and all the dads out there:
In your eyes, what makes a good father?
Everyone has their own idea of how to answer this question, and again, there is no right or wrong. I think there will be a lot of common answers among everyone, but I am curious to see what people come up with. What makes a man a good father? What kind of traits or action do they have or show that makes them special? Think about it and let me know. You can answer on here, or on Facebook or on Twitter. I’ll also ask a few people on Twitter and see what kind of answers I get. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.
It’s just a short post for now because I want to post something else in a little bit, something that has been gnawing at my brain for the last few days, so I am going to work on that and do a post for that. I am also hoping to work on the next installment of “Below the Surface” and have that up in the next day or two, so you can check back for that if you have been following along. Until later on today, don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Family, Food, Questions | Leave a Comment
Tags: Father's Day, favorite ice cream, question of the day, what makes a good father
Time to tackle Thursday’s question. First I want to say thanks to everybody who visited the blog yesterday and read the next installment of “Below the Surface.” It was the second busiest day traffic-wise that I have had on the blog, so for that I thank everyone and I am glad it’s going well. I’ve gotten some good feedback on it and hope to have the next installment up in a few days. Now on to yesterday’s question, which was:
Do things happen in life by fate or is it all coincidence?
Granted, as I said yesterday this is a very broad question and certainly has no right or wrong answer. No one really knows the true answer to this question, but it was fun to hear some opinions on it. This is a hard thing to figure out for me and something I have thought about often. Because of what has happened to me I often wonder did this had to happen or is it all just bad luck, bad timing and maybe me not taking the best care of myself? Or was this something that was fated to happen to me, whether I liked it or not, and couldn’t be prevented? It makes me wonder if our lives are plotted out for us in a way on some type of road map and we are being guided along. Maybe the choices we make along way have an influence on what happens, but there is a guiding force that leads us to certain choices, good or bad, because in the long run and grand scheme, this is what is supposed to happen. No one wants bad things to happen to them, but they do occur anyway and we deal with the results and consequences of these events. To me, it seems difficult to believe that everything that occurs is the result of a series of random coincidences. There would have to be some kind of reason or plan for things to fall out the way that they do, good or bad. in the end, this really leads me up to a question I’ll be asking next week, so check back for that one and maybe my answer will become a little clearer.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer and a special thank you to Margaret Atwood who took the time to have a little chat with me on Twitter and give perhaps the only answer that makes any sense to the question (you can check the comments in yesterday’s post to see what it is). Now on to today’s question. Let’s do something a little lighter for a Friday. Summer is almost here, the weather is warmer and our thoughts turn to summertime goodies, so:
What is your favorite ice cream?
I am not a big ice cream eater myself (I know GASP!) but I do eat it once in a while and like everyone else, I have my favorites to choose from. Which one do you choose when you get to the frozen food aisle? When you stop at your local ice cream stand (they used to call them parlors, do they still have those?), what do you have to indulge in? Everyone has their own personal favorite, so I am curious to see if anyone picks the same thing. Think about it and let me know. You can answer on here, or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll also ask a few people on Twitter and see what their answers are. I’ll post my answer tomorrow (maybe, tomorrow looks like a pretty busy day and I may not have time to write.)
That wraps things up for today. I have been jotting down quite a few questions lately, so I think we’ll have some good ones coming to stir up some discussion. If you have a question you would like to ask, a story or poem to share, or anything at all you would like to contribute, leave a comment and let me know. The door is always open to suggestions. Thanks again for following along and thanks again for the good feedback. I’ll keep plugging along. Enjoy the rest of your day and don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Questions | 6 Comments
Tags: are things destined to happen?, fate vs. coincidence, favorite ice cream, margaret atwood, question of the day, random coincidences
Below the Surface (continued)
Steven was snapped out of his trance by the sound of the lawn mower of the landscaping crew. He looked down out the bedroom window to see the familiar figure of Oscar and his two-man crew tending to the lawn and garden. Steven put on a t-shirt and jeans and made his way down to the kitchen. The floor creaked under him every step of the way, as it did every time he walked over it. He entered the kitchen and immediately turned on the coffeemaker. As the coffee brewed, he gazed out the window above the sink to watch Oscar. Oscar had been handling the landscaping here since Uncle Louis bought the place many years ago. Steven can always remember seeing Louis here, every Wednesday like clockwork, always smiling even when he was working hard in the hot sun. Oscar stilled looked the same as he had when Steven first saw him – stocky, well tanned, broad muscular shoulders and arms, with his trademark ball cap with the “Oscar’s Landscaping” logo on the front. He always had a look of determination t go with his smile, working hard even at the smallest tasks. Oscar always handled the garden himself, his area of expertise, while the other two men worked on the lawn. Steven had always assumed he had bigger crews for some of his bigger jobs and was surprised when he had found out from Oscar that he did everything with just this crew. “We work as hard as a team of twenty,”Oscar had told him proudly a few weeks back.
Steven poured himself a mug of coffee and sipped it lightly as he checked his e-mail for any responses to his resume or anything from Amber. There were neither. He hadn’t spoken to Amber since they had their break up fight and the dream he had last night bothered him enough to send her a quick note, just saying hello and asking if she was okay. He didn’t really expect her to respond, but he was hopeful. He leaned back in his desk chair and looked over at the basement door. He had been down there a few times since he had moved in to store some boxes or bring something up he had forgotten to unpack, but he never lingered down there for very long. it still gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He pushed himself out of his desk chair and strode over to the door. he turned the old handle, feeling the looseness of it in his hand, almost feeling like it was ready to fall off. As he turned the handle and felt the latch move, a heavy rapping on the kitchen door startled him. He quickly released the handle and peered around the corner into the kitchen. It was one of Oscar’s crew. Steven thought maybe he had to use the bathroom or needed a quick drink of water. He opened the door to see the small man, bathed in sweat and his eyes looking a bit confused, and an odd smile on his face as he considered Steven. They stared at each other for an awkward moment before Steven prompted him.
“Do you need something?” Steven asked him, still studying the man’s unusual demeanor.
“Mister Oscar wants you,” he told Steven in broken English. Steven slipped into the black Crocs he kept by the back door and followed the man out across the lawn to the garden path. He watched as the man walked in front of him down the path, noticing that he walked at a strange gait, almost as if he was unsteady on his legs and with a slight limp. It seemed a little out of character to Steven and he kept watching the man. The man turned and looked back to make sure Steven was following and it almost seemed to Steven that the man back at Steven, almost grinning unnaturally, showing his crooked teeth. It startled Steven enough to think twice about following the man and he slowed a bit until he heard Oscar’s voice just up ahead on the path.
Oscar was barking orders in Spanish to the other worker, who was slowly backing away from where Oscar stood. Oscar turned to see Steven and walked towards him to greet him. Oscar reached out and shook Steven’s hand. It was rough, calloused and dirty, the signs of a man who had long worked hard. “How are you Steven?” Oscar asked him as he took a bandana from his pocket and wiped his brow, placing his cap back on his head when he was done.
“I’m good Oscar,” Steven said to him as he gazed around the garden. “How are you?”
“Not bad,” Oscar told him as he stretched his back left and then right. “Maybe getting too old to keep working this hard. I should just send my guys out and kick back and relax, and I do that more, but I like to come here. your Uncle Louie helped get my business going by giving me this job, so I feel like it’s the least I can do to keep taking care of the garden, you know? How is he by the way? I haven’t talked to him in months.”
“He’s doing well,” Steven told him, starting to feel the heat of being outside. “He and Aunt Linda are enjoying life, spending half the year in Florida and half here in New York so Uncle Louis can keep tabs on the dealerships. What’s going on here?” Steven prompted, hoping to move this along so he could hurry up and get out of the sun. Steven glanced over and saw the two workers standing in front of a part of the garden, talking in Spanish.
“You need to see this,” Oscar said as he led Steven over to where the workers were standing. Both men stopped talking when Oscar and Steven approached and they began step back and then moved further down the path.Oscar and Steven turned towards the garden where the sunflowers are, or at least where they were supposed to be. Many of the flowers lay broken and trampled to the ground, stalks ground into the soil, flowers and seeds laying spilled all over. There was also an area about three feet wide where the ground was completely cleared of everything, revealing just some very black earth and nothing more. The scorched area had some dead bugs around it – moths, grasshoppers, flies, lightning bugs and the like. To Steven it looked almost like a giant bug zapper had been placed there during the night, done its job, and then was taken away.
“What’s this?” Steven asked Oscar has he squatted down to examine the earth.
“I was hoping you could tell me,” Oscar said to him as he stood, lightly licking a few broken stalks as he looked on the area with a puzzled face.
“I have no idea,” Steven said to him as he looked over the area. “It looks almost like lightning struck here,” he told Oscar. Steven could see that some of the dead bugs looked charred. He looked over at Oscar hoping for some kind of reaction.
“I thought that too,” Oscar said as he squatted next to Steven. “Except there ain’t been any storms or lightning since I was here last week.” Oscar lightly fingered the blackened soil, letting it sift through his fingers, leaving dark imprints on his fingertips, like ash. ‘This here is fresh, like it was just done yesterday or today.”
“Did you find it?” Steven asked him rather intensely, hoping for some detail.
“Nope, Hector came up on it,” Oscar said nodding towards the men down the path. “I asked him to dump some fill in the compost heap down the path there. It was taking him so long to do it that I went looking for him, figuring he was taking a break using his cell phone or something, and I saw him here, just staring at it. I sent him up to get you while I looked at it. Took him a minute or two to get his bearings; I had to yell a bit a few times to get him moving, almost like it spooked him somehow.”
Steven looked over at Hector and the other worker. Both were standing about twenty feet away and Steven had to squint a bit through the glare of the high sun to see them. The other worker was doing all the talking while Hector stared straight at him. Hector then suddenly turned his head to the left, staring right at Steven with wide, startled eyes, like he knew Steven was looking at him. Steven could swear he saw Hector grin that crooked smile at him while he looked at him. Steven was jarred and fell back from his spot right into Oscar.
Filed under: Fiction | 1 Comment
Tags: below the surface, fiction writing, horror fiction
Wednesday is typically my off day from blogging, so I had plenty of time to consider my answer to my question and what would be the next question. In case you forgot, Tuesday’s question was:
Do you believe in ghosts?
I think there are always people who are skeptical when it comes to the issue of ghosts and spirits, and I can honestly say that at one point in my life I was one of those people, but I am not anymore. I have met too many people who have experienced things that can’t just be explained away and I have seen a few things that make me feel that way too. I worked with a professor at Western Connecticut State University, Oscar de los Santos, who is a firm believer. He wrote a book called “Spirits of Texas and New England” that documents some of his first hand experiences and experiences of others he knows. It’s a pretty interesting read and a little spooky if you really get into it. But, like I said, I was never much of a believer. That is until after Sean was born.
When Sean was just a couple of months old and we were living with Michelle’s parents, Michelle and I both noticed something. Whenever he was laying on our bed, he would immediately turn his attention to one particular spot above the bed and smile and giggle and laugh like crazy. Michelle and I could never figure out. We would look at the same spot on the ceiling and didn’t see anything, but it happened every time he was there. After a while, we just kind of got used to him doing it.
We bought our condo when Sean was 4 months old and have lived here ever since. When Sean was about 2, he would play a lot in the hallway here, but particularly right in front of the bathroom door in the hall. He would sit in front of the bathroom door and play and talk. One day he sat down there and came running back down the hall a few minutes later laughing like crazy. He did this a few times and I finally asked him what are you doing? He said the ghost was touching him. I just laughed and chalked it up to kid play and he went on playing, laughing and running.
It wasn’t long after that Michelle and I noticed something on the baby monitor. We would hear Sean in the middle of the night talking. He wasn’t in his crib anymore and was sleeping in the bed. He would be talking and laughing, having a conversation. Michelle went in and asked him what he was doing and he said he was talking to the ghost. He said the ghost would come in and sit on the end of his bed and talk to him. Michelle had asked him to describe the ghost but he was never very specific about what the ghost looked like other than that it was a man. This went on for a few years, with Sean getting occasional visits from the man.
One night, Michelle and I were both sitting in the living room watching tv. Michelle was laying on the couch and I was on the love seat, making my back to the dining room. I looked over at Michelle and couldn’t help but notice that she was looking into the dining room at something. I asked her what she was doing and she said ” turn around.” I looked into the dining room and there the lights were dimming up and down, on and off, like someone was playing with the dimmer switch. We both just looked at each other and I got up and checked the dimmer switch, turned the light on and then off. Everything seemed to be working fine. After a while we went to bed. A few hours later, I woke up hearing something on the baby monitor. I went into Sean’s room to check it out. He had a Playskool toy barbecue set in there and there it was all lit up and sizzling away, making lots of noise. I took the toy and pulled it out of his room so it didn’t wake him up and dragged it into the dining room and made sure I turned it off. I got back into bed and not 5 minutes later, I heard the toy on again in the dining room. I almost didn’t want to go out and get it but I brought myself to do it. There the toy was, all lit up again and working away like someone was playing with it. I grabbed the toy, took the batteries out this time and went to bed. That was the last I heard of the toy.
Sean went on for a few years talking to the ghost. We figured it was just something we would have to learn to live with at home but didn’t figure it would happen other places. When Michelle’s dad went in for gastric bypass surgery, Michelle took Sean to visit him in the hospital. They had a visit with her dad for a while and then left his room. As they were walking down the hall to leave the hospital, Sean pulled closer to Michelle and held on tight to her. Michelle asked him what was wrong. He said ” Mommy, there are lots of ghosts around here, all around us. There’s one right next to you.” Needless to say, Michelle got spooked and they ran out of the place.
He hasn’t mentioned the ghost in many years, and doesn’t even seem to remember much about it at this point. If you ask him about, he has some vague memory of seeing him and will usually just give you a one or two-word answer about it and move on to something else. It intrigues me a great deal and wish he could remember more about it, because I would love to hear it.
After my dad passed away in 2008, I had one more experience. I had gone to bed about 11 and Michelle was up late working on her laptop. I went to bed and fell fast asleep. I had a dream about Dad, which I had not done since he died, but it seemed more than a dream. I was lying in bed, just like I was, and Dad was standing next to the bed right next to me. All he did was smile and put his hand on my shoulder, and then he was gone. I woke up right away. It seemed so real, I could have sworn he was there. I went out into the dining room and Michelle saw me and she could tell right away something was wrong. I told her what had happened and she could tell I was upset by it. It did seem real. It wasn’t long after that my brother Kevin and his wife Julie came over for dinner one night. We were sitting around talking and I mentioned the dream to them. Kevin just looked at me and said ” I had the same exact dream.” He seemed spooked about us having the same dream. I think it was the next day when the phone rang and it was Kevin calling. He told me he had talked to my brother Don and told him about what had happened to us and Don told him he also had the same dream as we did. Kevin said he called our sisters to check and see if any of them had the dream, but none of them had. I think maybe Dad just wanted to get a message to his sons that he was okay. He never said anything but just put his hand on us to let us know he was doing alright now. Well, that’s my theory anyway.
So that’s my experience with ghosts. I do believe in them now, and I have seen a few things around here that makes me think something is here, but I don’t worry about it much. I mean, we have lived here for over 11 years now and nothing has happened so why worry? I think it’s interesting and makes me more aware of things I hear and see around here.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer. For today’s question, it was kind of brought about by something my friend Kim had asked on Facebook the other day. She had asked if there was something you had done that you looked back on and thought that was a really dumb thing to do. I replied to her with a couple of things, but that got me thinking about this:
Do things happen in life by fate or is it all coincidence?
This is kind of broad question, but it does make you think. Is there a reason things happen the way that they do, or is it all just a series of accidents and coincidences? If you’ve ever read Philip Dick’s story “Adjustment Team” or seen the movie “The Adjustment Bureau” this is really the question that they ask. Is everything that happens to us predetermined and fated to happen or is it our own free will that creates incidents and coincidences and that determines our life? Don’t give yourself a headache thinking about this, but consider it and let me know. You can answer on here, or on Facebook or on Twitter. I’ll ask a few people on Twitter as well and see what they say. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.
I didn’t forget about posting the next part of my story; that’s coming up next on my agenda, so you can check back later and see if it’s here. Enjoy the rest of your day and don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Ghosts, Questions | 3 Comments
Tags: do you believe in ghosts, fate vs. coincidence, question of the day
Let Me Tell You Something Son
I’ve been doing a lot of work today, but I decided to take a break and do some blogging right now. I hope to get the next installment of my story up today, so you can look for that later on. For now, let’s answer yesterday’s question, which was:
If you could give just one piece of advice to a child growing up today, what would it be?
I got some good answers to this one (I have to admit, you guys are great. You come up with some really good answers!) and a lot of them had to do with making sure you are kind to others, which is great advice that I think everyone needs to hear now and then, not just children. I think the one thing I would say, and I have said this to Sean many times, is that you should try to learn as much as you can in life. I’m not just talking about book learning and what you learn in school. You should try to work with that as much as you can, but you can learn a lot about so many things in life from people outside of a school setting. So many people will cross your paths in life, and you can learn something different from each one of them. It may not seem like it all the time, and there may be people you come across in life you can’t stand or don’t want to listen to, but you can learn something from them as well, even if it is just a lesson in being tolerant. There are constant lessons to be learned outside of what goes on in a video game or on television that are important. People have so many life experiences that you can draw on and learn from, and I hope that Sean understands that. I like the fact that he is always asking me questions, even if at times the questions seem odd, strange or even annoying. The fact that he is asking at all makes me happy, even if he is asking as a joke. I try to impress upon him how important the idea of learning is, that it isn’t just what you learn but the process you go through in learning it. Sometimes that is something that stays with you more than what you learn. To me, that was what going to college was all about. It wasn’t so much what they were teaching – I mean, how often am I going to have conversations about Goethe, Descartes, oceanography and the like – but it’s that you learn a different way of thinking, a different approach.
I admit that what you learn can be just as important, and that’s why it’s so important to ask as many questions as you can in life, try to find out as much as you can about everything that interests you, and even some things that don’t interest you. I used to love sitting and talking with Michelle’s grandfather. When I first met him he was in his eighties and he lived to be 99. When he was born, Teddy Roosevelt was president. The things he experienced in life were amazing. He could recount things from eras most people only read about in books; but he lived it. I think I learned a lot from him not just about history but about life from those conversations we would have sitting in the living room or on the patio enjoying our martinis. That’s what I want not just for my child, but I think it is something all children should strive for. Even if it’s just something little, like Michelle explaining to Sean on Sunday that he should learn more about dancing because there will come a time in his life where girls are much more interested in a guy who can dance (I hate to admit it, but I think she’s right on this one). All those little life experiences can add up to a lot of wisdom.
Okay, that’s the end of my rant for today. Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer and a special thank you to Mena Suvari, who sent me a very nice answer to the question. Now on to today’s question. I was trying to think of a good question for today, going over my notes, and I noticed some weird things happening with the lights in here, which leads me to ask this question:
Do you believe in ghosts?
It could be a simple yes or no answer to this, and those of you who know me personally know how I feel about this. I think everyone at one time or another has had to deal with this question, whether it’s something they have heard from a family member or friend, or something they have experienced themselves. Take the question for what it is and answer it honestly. You can post your answer here, or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll ask some people on Twitter as well and see what kind of response I get. I’ll post my answer here tomorrow.
That’s it for now. If I don’t get back to work now, I won’t have time to post any of my story later, so I need to get back to it. Check back later to see the next part of the story. Until then, enjoy your day and don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Family, Questions | Leave a Comment
Tags: advice to a child, do you believe in ghosts, learning, life experiences, piece of advice, question of the day
I took the weekend off from blogging to do some fun family things and we had a nice time all weekend, but now it’s back to blogging. First, I want to thank everyone who had comments about the story I am working on. If you want to check it out, you can see the first installment here. I should have the next installment up in a day or two for you to check out. I think it’s been going along well and have added to it. I’m actually almost done with it at this point so I should be able to get installments up quicker, I just have to type them up from my notebook.
Let’s get back to the question I posed on Friday, which was:
What is your favorite candy?
I got lots of varying responses to this one, although I did notice quite a few people chose a Mounds bar as their favorite. I personally don’t like coconut, so I don’t care for it, but candy is a very particular thing with people. A lot of people mentioned different types of chocolate that they like and some people went for the gummy type candy. I have always preferred the gummy things. I’ve never been much of chocolate eater myself. It’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just not my personal choice. Really the only candy I like that has chocolate would have to be a Heath bar. I like the crunchy toffee more than the chocolate, but I do enjoy that one. As far as the gummy candy, I have always liked Red Hot Dollars. There’s something about those little chewy red candies I like, and they’re not really hot anymore, they are more cherry than anything else, but I do still like them. I also love Swedish Fish. When I was in the hospital, once I was allowed to eat real food again, Sean would bring me Swedish Fish from the store downstairs in the lobby so I could have a few to eat. I love the flavor of them and while I like the red ones, I also like the other colors of them as well. I do also like Haribo Gummy Bears, but they have to be the ones from Haribo. Those are the type that taste the best. They are small and chewy and have the best flavor of all the gummy things out there.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer and a special thanks to Geoffrey Zakarain, Amanda Freitag and Alton Brown for taking the time to answer me on Twitter. The chefs over at Food Network are great about answering all kinds of questions. I have asked them a bunch of cooking questions for my other blog, www.onedadskitchen.com, and they are always willing to offer up an answer. So on to today’s question. As the school year comes to end (I know in many places it’s already over, but Sean goes through June 22), and Sean gets ready to leave elementary school behind him and go to middle school next year, it got me to thinking about this question:
If you could give just one piece of advice to a child growing up today, what would it be?
Kids today seem to be exposed to so much more in life at an early age and the exposure is constant, so I was wondering what advice could you give or what advice do you give to your own children or the kids in your life. Even if you don’t have children of your own, I think kids can learn a lot from the wisdom of adults around them (whether they want to admit that or not is another topic all together), so if you could say just one thing, what would you say? Think about it and let me know. You can answer on here, or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll also ask some people on Twitter and see if I get a response. I’ll post my answer tomorrow.
Well I guess it’s back to work for now. Thanks again to everyone for their words of encouragement about my writing and the blog. I am glad to know people are actually following along and reading it. If you ever have anything you would like to contribute, please feel free to leave a comment here, or on Facebook or on Twitter. The links to my pages are listed on the right. You can also always email me at IguanaFlats@msn.com. I’m pretty good about responding. Until next time, enjoy your day and don’t forget to do something creative today!
Filed under: Food, Questions | 1 Comment
Tags: advice for kids, favorite candy, question of the day
Below the Surface
Okay, so here’s what I have. I have actually written quite a bit so far, so I am going to have to do this in installments. I’m not used to sharing my work in any fashion whatsoever, so be kind. According to copyright law, all the text on this page is created by me and can’t be used without my permission. Please don’t make me have to go through the registration process to prove my ownership of this material. It’s time-consuming and expensive. Okay enough, with the legalities, here it is:
Steven Willis didn’t mind living out in the middle of nowhere, even on night’s like this. His Uncle Louis (he liked to be called Louie) offered up his old summer home for Steven to use after he had graduated from college. It was sort of like a graduation gift from Louie and his wife Linda. They had been like parents to Steven practically every summer from the time he was twelve on, when he would spend the summers with them instead of with the housekeeper at his own house. Steven’s parents were both successful lawyers who traveled extensively and Steven ended up spending more time with the housekeeper Stella than he did with his parents. He often thought they had him just to satisfy their friends that they could actually have a child, and beyond that they weren’t really interested in the rest of it.
Steven was glad that Louis and Linda had offered him the use of the house. While the house hadn’t been used as a summer home for a few years now, it offered Steven something that he couldn’t turn down – free rent. It afforded him the opportunity to take his time with his job search after school was completed (they all told him a degree in English wouldn’t lead to many job prospects) and it allowed him to spend some time back in the small town where he had spent many summers with Louis, Linda and his cousin Harry. he spent most of this current summer just straightening up the place and making minor repairs, re-painting, repairing torn screens and hauling some long forgotten junk from the basement.
The house itself was old but it wasn’t really run down at all. Uncle Louis had always put time, effort and money into the place that he saw as a proud family legacy, one that showed he had done well selling cars for the last twenty years, from being a salesman at a small Ford dealership in the seventies to eventually owning 6 varying dealerships of his own across the county. The house was a simple colonial with three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, a standard living room, dining room, den and kitchen on the main floor, and a full size basement. It had a nice sized patio right off the kitchen that led out to an expansive lawn and a large, well manicured garden with a stone walkway through the gardens to the rear of the yard. Aunt Linda had spent many hours tending to the garden, picking out particular flowers, vines, shrubbery and even vegetables and herbs, so that the garden always looked abundant and beautiful. When she wasn’t spending time outside in the garden, Louis made sure that the lawn was taken care of, hiring a local landscaping service to take care of the lawn and the garden for all the time the house was unoccupied.
Steven had moved in after graduation in late May and spent the last month and a half fixing the place up, having parties with his college friends (he became quite popular once they knew he had his own house) and working on his resume and following job leads. He wasn’t looking too hard for work knowing he was living rent free and could always hit his parents up for money. The guilt they felt for their absence in Steven’s life added up to a tidy allowance for Steven whenever he wanted it. Besides, he figures he could always get a job substitute teaching at the local high school while he sought out something more permanent. He had heard that some of the people he hung around with during his summers here had jobs over there; perhaps one or two could put a good word in for him at the school to get him some work. In retrospect, Steven thought, he had it pretty good. He was young, he had money, he was a reasonably good-looking guy,and he had a nice house rent free. Louis and Linda had insisted on this since he was always such a good friend to Harry.
Steven awoke on a warm July morning, the sheets sticking to his legs thanks to the sweat the uncomfortable humidity had produced all night last night. Twice he got up to check and see if the windows in the bedroom were even open since the air was hanging so heavily in the room. He rolled to his left off the pillow, feeling the stubble on his cheeks tightly peel off the damp cotton of the pillowcase. Even the cool shower he took in the morning didn’t make him feel good and he knew it was time for him to drag the air conditioner up from the basement so he could put it in the window today and perhaps sleep comfortably tonight. He couldn’t deal with another night like last night. He had tossed and turned from the heat and humidity all night long, praying the cool side of the pillow would be enough to comfort him. Besides the two times he had checked the windows, he had gotten up a few times just to sit up and cool off, listening to the quiet of the evening, although a few times that seemed to be broken by noises outside. Finally, at about 2 AM, he broke down and took an Ambien to help him fall asleep. The Ambien always produced vivid surreal dreams for him and last night was no different. He didn’t remember much of the dreams often and he usually quickly dismissed them from his mind, but the dream from last night lingered and he couldn’t seem to shake it as he showered.
He dreamt he was in the kitchen of the house with Amber, his most recent girlfriend who had only just broken up with him days before. She was taking a job in Seattle and had wanted to end things early in the summer to make it easier (“Easier for who?” Steven had thought more than once, and eventually he had said it out loud to her in a knock down, drag out they had last Saturday at Steven’s last party). In the dream, amber had stormed out of the house after another one of Steven’s smart ass, half drunk remarks, most likely something about her leaving, and she went out the back door of the kitchen to the back patio. Steven had sighed and followed her out, knowing he had to try to apologize, but when he got out there, she wasn’t there. All that was there was the fire pit, well-lit, with some empty chairs around it and a few stray beer bottles and the sound of the tiki torches surrounding the patio, flickering in the night breeze.. He glanced around the backyard, peering out into the darkness, calling her name. He heard a rustling out towards the pathway in the garden and made his way across the lawn to the path. The small solar lamps that lined the walkway offered very little in the way of light in comparison to the moonlight that shone brightly through the trees onto the path. Steven called out to Amber each time he heard a noise or thought he saw her shadow moving, but it always seem to move further away and around a bend. he picked up his pace, trying to keep up as the path worked its way towards the rear of the yard. And then the path veered off suddenly and led him back towards the house, bringing him right in front of the basement access doors next to the house. Aunt Linda had insisted on having them installed so she could easily move her gardening supplies in and out to the yard. Steven reached the access doors and noticed both doors lay wide open, leading to the stone cellar steps and into the darkness of the basement. He stopped and looked at the doors, feeling oddly puzzled since Uncle Louis had the access sealed up when…
He didn’t want to think about it, not even in his dreams. A scream came from behind him, cutting through the night silence and turning him away from the basement. It had obviously come from the garden path. Steven whirled and ran towards the scream, positive that it had been Amber calling out. He reached a bend in the path where there was a group of large sunflowers growing. Steven saw her as he came up to the sunflowers, shadowy arms draped over her shoulders, as if holding her in a deep embrace. She struggled to try to look over her shoulder, to turn where she knew Steven was, but the figure held her close, gripping her long brown hair in its dark, claw-like hand. Her body shook with fear and Steven heard the meekly uttered words of “No, please” and then she was gone. Nothing but the sounds of the night filled the void and the moonlight shone directly where she stood, revealing nothing but a patch of broken sunflowers and stems and a patch of scorched earth.
Filed under: Fiction | 4 Comments
Tags: below the surface, horror fiction, story, thriller
The Office of Iguana Flats 