Siberia With A View

April 15, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is 10 hours, 12 minutes.

I close the box.

It’s dry in Siberia With a View.

Scary dry.

Meteorologists and foresters confirm what residents have known for a while now: the southwest corner of Colorado is experiencing severe drought, and has for several years.

It’s dry, and we’re ready to burn. There’s fear in the air. A neighbor tells me he smells smoke every morning, and says he regularly sees swarms of bats take flight at mid day. Continue reading →

April 2, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is nine hours, fifty-eight minutes.

I close the box.

Lazlo Eatwat.

I reunite with Lazlo when I discover an old magazine at the bottom of a cardboard box stored in my garage here in Siberia With a View.

The box is labeled “Miscellany-1980,” and it has been sealed by duct tape for more than forty years, duct tape being prima materia for a cash-poor archivist.

Lazlo’s work is prominently featured in the publication. Continue reading →

March 26, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is nine hours, twenty-seven minutes.

I close the box.

The Covid situation continues to weigh heavy on Kathy and me.

We’re old, flawed, and fearful; though we’ve been vaccinated, we remain isolated. This promotes frequent exchanges of obscenities, heightened neuroses, and greater nonsense each new day.

I haven’t changed my socks in two weeks. If I recall correctly, I brushed my teeth a while back. I have hair sprouting in new places on my increasingly tubby body. I’ve begun to communicate with the birds that visit our deck. Continue reading →

March 12, 2021

A notification appears in a small box at the upper right corner of my computer screen

I am informed my daily average screen time — the time my computer is linked with the Internet — is nine hours, three minutes.

I close the box.

I avoided exposure to Denver television news broadcasts for nearly nine months, beginning last July.

The Denver news shows caused me great discomfort, provoked frequent fits of rage. The ongoing quarantine was problem enough; I’m old and delicate, increasingly dysfunctional, and I couldn’t bear additional stress. So, no Denver TV. Continue reading →