Waterfall at Eagle Creek, OR (Photo by C.Frischmann)

David loves his partner. David’s parents cannot bear to think of their son as gay. David’s passion is supporting sustainability. His parents don’t believe that global warming is real. On his annual visit home, he hikes to a favorite Sierra meadow and sits under a snow-laden cornice that will tumble when temperature warms.

When David returns from the hike, his parents serve his favorite meal, given him money to defray his trip cost.  They’re old and they’ve done what they know how to show they love him. David visits them to show his love.

The conflicts among people, places, and things we love create the tension that energizes our lives, gives them importance and urgency.

I struggle with my father. Our being together is like a walk across talus. We’re good for a few yards of picking the right rocks, but once we step on a loose piece of basalt, yards of stone carry us down the slope scraping our skin to a bloody rash that scabs over and heals, if we let it. 
I am determined to maintain a relationship with my father that I can be proud of, just as he is determined to navigate his eighties with whatever grace he can muster; but, we metaphorically walk under that cornice David mentions. A states’ rights advocate who believes Al Gore is ridiculous, my father predicts we’ll have an unusually warm spring. “That is nature,” he says. “Not global warming.” If I’m lucky, my long walk along the lower half of Eagle Creek will save both of us.

Forgiving the Present (in Three Tries)
Poetry on the Elliptical
Empty Pods and Pleasant Graveyards
Six Good Places
On Pleasure
What We Love
Essays in Response to a Friend’s Writing

Comment Form

Enter Your Comment:

Your Name:

Your Email:

Location:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the above word and number in the text box below:

< < Back