The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: safety

  • 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…

  • It Takes All Kinds

    I used to work with someone whose anxiety came out in the form of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). On really bad nights, she’d actually walk up to the bridge on the roadway, on the dotted yellow line, because to her way of thinking, encountering a 4,000 pound vehicle was vastly preferable to walking on the…

  • Tent Life

    Every day here in Seattle I drive past little homeless encampments. They seem to be everywhere. They gather under the overpasses, in the little clumps of forest, and even on the sidewalks. Their tents are ragged and dirty, and usually they sit amongst a field of garbage. It’s heartbreaking to witness, especially during a pervasive…

  • Thanks, Crappy Dad!

    I was commiserating the other day with someone about what horrible, toxic, deadbeat and emotionally unsupportive fathers we each have. I was wondering how much farther ahead we’d both be if we had grown up with men in our lives who encouraged us and made us feel safe and loved. I can’t even imagine what…

  • Scary Small World

    I just learned that Omar Mateen, the Orlando gunman, briefly attended Indian River State College, and was kicked out because he threatened to bring a gun there. I received my last degree from IRSC, and I’m now profoundly grateful that I wasn’t there the same year. Even so, this news has me extremely rattled. He…

  • News Flash: I Don’t Care Where You Pee

    When I lived in Florida, I used to dream about moving to the mountains of North Carolina. To me, that was paradise. I had convinced myself that I would find my ultimate happiness there. I used to vacation there every chance I got. The reason I was so anxious to get out of Florida, believe…

  • Why Drawbridges Should Not Be Automated

    I’ve got to confess, I’ve visited the NPR website, where you can find my interview, about a billion times. I’m proud of it (except for the horrible picture in which I weigh about 50 pounds more than I do now). The page also allows for comments, and I’ve participated in those quite a bit, too.…

  • Coming to the Rescue

    I just had a long talk with my newest dog, Quagmire. Don’t panic. I’m not Son of Sam. I’m willing to acknowledge that the conversation was rather one-sided. But just by being the dog that he is, he was able to tell me quite a bit. Before I adopted him, he was found dirty, terrified,…

  • “It’s a leaf.”

    I had some business to do at the courthouse. When I entered the building, I waited patiently in line like a good girl to pass through the metal detector. I couldn’t be more harmless if my life depended on it, but I’ve come to accept that this is a world in which one occasionally has…

  • Dog-mares

    All dog owners have most likely seen their beloved pet’s little paws “running” while they snooze. Or maybe they’ve even heard a muted “woof” while Rover was deep in the clutches of REM sleep. It’s kind of cute. But the other night something scary happened. My dog, Devo, who had been napping contentedly at my…