Daily writing prompt

Who is the most confident person you know?

View all responses

I guess the relationship is brother-in-law by marriage– not sure. Anyway, this guy is willing to try just about anything. He’s a craftsman, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a surfer, a skier who uses skis he makes, a connoiseur of fine homemade spirits and good wine, beer– you name it. I’ve never met anyone quite like him. It seems there’s not much he won’t try and fewer people he won’t strike up a conversation with. I think it’s a combination of confidence and unbounded curiosity.

A close second would be an uncle on my mother’s side. He’s 91 now, slowing a bit but still active, a jack of all trades. There’s little that he hasn’t tried his hand at and not done well. He spent his life as a mechanical engineer and consultant. He loved pulling his boat and being on the water, fishing and exploring– whether fresh or salt. He and his wife– my aunt, who was a bundle of energy and endlessly curious herself– traveled to remote Alaska, among many other far-flung places, for years. They were the world travelers of the family, quite the couple. They made a good team.

Amazing people– to see such a zest for life, and blessed with a certain fearlessness.

Daily writing prompt

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

View all responses

I’m not quite sure which negative feelings are implied here– competence, self worth? I’ve never had many strategies. Most times, I wallow, mope, and scowl for a while, hoping that “this, too, shall pass.” I sometimes try to explain what I’m feeling, but most times I muddle through, knowing that it will subside and life will go on.

Having said that, I think I’m getting a bit better with letting certain things go. Self-criticism– as opposed to self-loathing– has its place, but it’s easily overdone, mis- or excessively applied. Writing, sometimes reading, taking a walk, exercising, having an honest conversation (the hardest), and working on some project are all ways that divert my attention, pull me up, and improve the mindset. There was a time when I would have enthusiastically added prayer to this list, but there’s a caveat anymore: I wonder who I’m praying to, if anyone is listening.

Daily writing prompt

What activities do you lose yourself in?

View all responses

Writing, sometimes reading, a good movie, cooking, working in the yard, golfing, taking a walk, sitting in the carport, listening to the sounds of the day; sitting by water, whether still or moving, taking in the landscapes and scenery when we’re driving somewhere; watching, with the grandchildren, the sun sinking below the distant hills, then the full moon rising behind us.

I try to be engaged in most everything I do, with the exception of going through stuff in the basement we’re trying to get rid of. I think I’d rather watch paint dry.

Daily writing prompt

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

View all responses

The Wizard of Oz, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Forrest Gump, Castaway, Jaws, Hidden Figures, The Help, Back To the Future 1 and 3, Titanic, The Sixth Sense, ET, Mrs. Doubtfire, Close Encounters…, Good Will Hunting, The Blues Brothers, the first and third Indiana Jones movies, and probably some others. Only a few at the theatre, most when they show up on the small screen.

TV series– haven’t binged any whole series five times, but we’ve gone though Ted Lasso and Shrinking twice. We’ve watched multiple seasons of M*A*S*H, All In the Family, The Andy Griffith Show, Gilligan’s Island, Candid Camera, The Lawrence Welk Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Mr. Ed, Green Acres, St. Elsewhere, E.R., The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, probably several others.

Yikes. That’s a lot of time in front of the television.

Daily writing prompt

Are you superstitious?

View all responses

A little bit. To this day, I tie my left shoe before my right, because I once saw, a long time ago, that Phil Esposito always tied his left skate before his right– part of his pre-game ritual. I started doing that with my own skates, and it has extended to other footwear.

I don’t pay much attention to Friday the 13th, and more than one black cat has crossed my path with no ill effect. But I try not to walk under ladders.

I’m a creature of habit and routine, but I don’t know how much of that can be considered superstition.

Daily writing prompt

Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

View all responses

Dear self,

Congratulations on reaching the century mark! And you thought you might not see 80…

This is a letter from your 71-year-old self, written in early 2025, when seismic changes are the order of the day and many of us are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Since you’re 100, you obviously survived whatever upheaval ensued, but I have to wonder how things are going for you, and everyone else. Are you cared for, are your needs being met? Does America still exist? Does society still function? How’s the weather?

Look at me. I’m getting ahead of myself. My job is to report and convey current conditions. I’ll refrain from asking more questions and offering advice. Hell, you managed to make it to 100– there’s nothing I can offer on that front!

Anyway, it’s a mixed bag here in 2025– promise and foreboding. That you’ve reached 100 says something, I guess, considering what’s happening now.

Sorry I can’t be more upbeat. I guess it says something hopeful, though– that you’re still hanging in there. I didn’t think I had it in me.

Daily writing prompt

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

View all responses

Probably Amazon, or L.L. Bean. Maybe Home Depot, or Woodpeckers, possibly Crutchfield.

Daily writing prompt

What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

View all responses

Warren. Etymologically, some sources claim its origins in Normandy, where it was thought to mean “protect or defend”; another source has it of Old English/Celtic origins, meaning “gamekeeper” or “park-keeper.” Others hint at “warden,” or something similar.

All that aside, I believe it’s simply in honor of my uncle, my Dad’s brother, with whom he was pretty close.

Daily writing prompt

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

View all responses

Maybe not in so many words, but something like “What did you accomplish today?” The temptation is to respond with “Not a damn thing,” because I seldom wake up with my first impulse being what the agenda for the day is gonna be, and what I can cross off some list.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy tackling a project now and then, and I don’t consider myself lazy. It’s just that I’m not motivated by nor want a to do list as something offered as a way of “making myself useful.”

I take pride in or at least feel a certain satisfaction in working on something to completion, tackling a project and seeing it through. But I feel little compunction to make a list for the sake of making a list and looking busy.

I guess I don’t need to be accomplishing something every day.

Daily writing prompt

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

View all responses

I guess I’ve never thought of life writ large in such clearly defined terms. In specific instances, like learning to ride a bike or a language or measuring twice and cutting once, it’s been a matter of persistence and learning from mistakes.

Vocationally, maybe my time in the ministry came about because I somehow needed to end up there, after a few false starts and work that didn’t mean much other than a paycheck. Still, I don’t view that period in my life as either success or failure, or even a calling. It just… was.

And as far as success or failure as a human being, I find such stark categories to be inadequate and offensive, even as, on occasion, someone might be driven to think about a person in those terms.