The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: safe

  • Cop Avoidance

    Back in the early 80’s I was studying abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico. It was one of the high points in my life. I learned so much about myself and the wider world. It had a profound effect on how I see this planet and its many inhabitants. I felt very safe in that welcoming community.…

  • I Love Tall Guys

    Heads up (literally) for one extremely biased blog post. I refuse to apologize. I adore tall men. When I was in high school, I was very close to a set of twins, Ronnie and Donnie. They were 6’3”. They pretty much towered over everyone else at the school, and I sort of considered them to…

  • I Sure Could Use a Nisse

    My mother was first generation American. Her parents came from Denmark. So as I grew up, she would sometimes tell me Danish folklore, especially around Christmas. I was particularly fascinated with stories of the nisse. The nisse was an elf-like creature who lived on your farm, usually in the barn or the attic, and if…

  • A Shout Out to Deadbeat Dads

    My parents got divorced when I was three months old. I never met my father. I did not receive a single Christmas or birthday card, photograph or visit, in my entire life. He paid not one penny of child support. People used to ask me if I missed my father. My stock response was, “How…

  • Solving Nightmares

    I was a very stressed out, sensitive and observant kid. My mother was raising us on her own and never received a dime in child support from our absent father. She did the best she could, but the wolves were definitely at our financial door on a regular basis. Our living standard went from bad…

  • The Psychic Parent

    Every good parent has a sort of psychic ability. You know, the eyes in the back of your head thing. If your child isn’t where he or she is supposed to be, or is doing something wrong, you sense it. Somehow you’re just tuned in to your child’s frequency. Notice I said “good” parent, though.…

  • Shield Man

    Not far from one of the bridges where I work is an abandoned building covered with graffiti. A homeless guy is squatting in one of the sheds on the property. He likes to carry a bright pink shield that he seems to have fashioned out of scrap wood, duct tape and a plastic bag. He…

  • Ways to Increase Your Safety

    I take the issue of safety very seriously, perhaps more so than the average person. Due to some abuse I experienced in my childhood, I have been diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It gets triggered when I feel as if people in positions of authority don’t have my best interests at heart, or…

  • Fred Rogers Was My Father

    On the last day of 2012, I have a confession to make. I watched Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to an embarrassingly old age. It was my dirty little secret. I told no one. It was something for just the two of us. Every day I’d tune in to the only father figure I had. He would…