Stories

Six Words: Renew, Empty, Cut, Whole, Infringe, Strike

The dressing room was empty because the whole group said they were going on strike. They cut the clothing they had been planning on wearing, demonstrating that they would not renew their participation in the competition. This was all in response to the owner of the contest infringing on their privacy when he walked through their dressing room while the young women were changing into their outfits. They responded by voting with their feet and walking out.

Six Words: Escape, Dangerous, Quarter, Continuation, Assignment, Assumption

A quarter moon showed over the land as I made my escape. The continuation of the shooting all around me actually made it less dangerous than if it were silent. At least this way I knew where the enemy was and didn’t have to make assumptions about where they might be. I definitely did not want this assignment to be my last one. And then I woke up.

Six Words: Amuse, Laundry, Tower, Unlikely, Econobox, Detector

I want to share an amusing story with you. As unlikely as it may seem, it is as true. Or at least it is as true as most of the things that we’ve been hearing from one overweight presidential candidate, so you know it must be true.

You all know what modern car washes look like. Some of them are like garages that you pull into and the equipment moves around your car. Older ones have a chain and guide rails and move your car through the car wash until it pops out the other end. Either way, it is like sending your car to the laundry. Lots of water gets sprayed, soap and wax get sprayed, and at the end hot air gets sprayed. Often the hot air vents tower above the car and blow it dry as the car moves past. That is what I expect to see every time I see a car go through a car wash. And that is what has always happened. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I saw a big SUV drive into car wash not far from here while I was putting gas in my car. Of course I expected to see a clean, shiny SUV come out of the other end of the car wash. Instead, a clean, shiny econobox came out! The big SUV had shrunk! If you don’t believe me, I’m willing to take a lie detector test – as soon as that overweight presidential candidate takes one too.

Six Words: Ethics, Ideology, Retreat, Panel, Intermediate, Velvet

It is usually wise to treat discussions about politics with velvet gloves. Not everyone may share your sense of ethics or ideology. Fruitful discussions try to find intermediate positions if there are differing opinions, because the more someone is forced to defend a position, the harder it is to retreat from that position. The most interesting discussions may involve a panel with differing points of view, such as whether sharks or batteries are more dangerous, and not even a skilled moderator can always keep things on topic.

Six Words: Orchard, Case, Transport, Party, Wrong, Torture

When we moved to Richardson, Texas from up north, I wanted to plant a grapefruit tree. Both in Chicago and in Connecticut, stores would advertise ruby red grapefruit from Texas. The landscaper that we used at our new house told me that I couldn’t grow grapefruit in the Dallas area. When I protested about all of the Texas grapefruit that we had eaten, he told me I was wrong, that they would only grow further south. About 800 miles further south. So I looked for alternative fruit trees that would grow in the Dallas area.

Read More »Farmer Bernie

Six Words: Equation, Houseplant, Moving, Temple, Dimension, Communication

During the Jewish High Holidays, the bimah, the stage area at the front of a temple, are decorated with large houseplants or other floral decorations. The dimensions of the bimah are used in an equation to determine the kind and the number of plants that will be needed. Because the bimah will need to be decorated again in about a week, arrangements must be made, and for volunteers to be recruited, to move the plants outdoors during the week, and then back inside again. If there are enough volunteers, it doesn’t take long. But it all depends on effective communication.

Six Words: Technique, Preparation, Torture, Dinner, Necklace, Limited

The idea of not being able to wear the gold necklace to dinner was torture, but the knot in it limited her ability to use it. It takes technique and patience, lots and lots of patience, to untangle a necklace. The first step in preparing to work on it is deciding where to do it. Then having the right tools and lighting. And have I mentioned patience?

Six Words: Timetable, Cancel, Relaxation, Housing, Angel, Direction

I was looking forward to a week of relaxation in a cottage along the beach in the Hawksbill area of the island nation of Antigua. I had no intention of canceling this trip. I’d been there twice, many years ago, and wondered how much the housing experience I’d had then would be different and how much it would be the same. Things move and change slowly on tropical islands.

My timetable included getting to the airport in Austin, changing planes in Miami, and flying into the renamed airport on the island. While I was flying into Antigua the first time, I sat next to a woman from there. I asked her how to pronounce the name of her country. I’d heard it pronounced Anti-gwuh and Anti-guh. In her Caribbean accented perfect English she said: “You would say Antigwa. Because of my accent, I would say Antiga. But you are correct!” I was amazed at that self-effacing, cordial reply. I’ve said Antiga ever since.

I’d had several other memorable experiences on the island. One of them was when we rented a Moke. A Moke is a small, jeep-like car and their maintenance was often, what we might say, creative. You can’t get too far from anywhere on an island nation that is only 14 miles long and 12 miles wide, although it has 365 beaches. Never-the-less, we were looking for a specific place and were lost. As we stopped on the side of the road to look at a map, a car with three very large men pulled up next to us. We could see that one of them had his forearm wrapped in white bandages and blood had soaked through. They asked if they could help. We told them where we wanted to go and they said they were going in that direction and the place we wanted to go was only a little out of their way and to follow them. With a certain amount of fear, we did follow them. In a few minutes we got to a fork in the road and they stopped. The driver pointed and said that our destination was a short way in the direction he was pointing and they went on their way. Without those three angels in disguise, we might still be driving around on the island.

There are worse places to marooned.

Six Words: Transform, Volume, Agriculture, Discover, Empire, Circulate

Throughout history groups of people have discovered that agriculture can be a key to survival. As they get better at it the volume of food available grows. As they circulate knowledge within groups and across groups it transforms them into empires.

Six Words: Lawyer, Proper, Substitute, Cabin, Disclose, Unlikely

It seems unlikely that someone would go to the effort of listing a cabin with Air BnB with the intention of substituting a similar one and not disclosing the differences. It’s obviously not proper. Because of Air BnB’s policies, you don’t need to hire a lawyer to get out of the rental agreement and get your deposit back, but they don’t compensate you for ruining your trip.