The Hellish Handbasket

The Chronic Malcontent here, coming to you from open desert somewhere between Parker, AZ, and Lake Havasu City. I’m parked on a swath of BLM...

I’m writing to you from Bureau of Land Management (BLM) desert land outside of Quartzsite, Arizona. BLM land out here occupies many square m...

The end of a year inspires me to look past the daily grind of living to the broader panorama of my life. Maybe you could say I'm looking...

I'm always shocked when my car speaks to me, but I've learned to listen when the horrible chime jangles my nerves to tell me somethi...

Here we are again, heading into another holiday season. It's not my favorite time of year, because 75°F is still too cold for this hotho...

I'm currently residing in a pretty big mobile home park. I'm not sure how many homes there are here, a few hundred, I think. I got l...

As usual, the holidays stir up mixed feelings in my brain. Beyond the basics of cold, hungry, tired, or leave me alone, I often have no idea...

I read today that writing gratitude lists sometimes can make us feel worse rather than better. I find that news a great relief. Now I don...

I would like to think I’ve evolved to the point where I live to serve, but it’s entirely possible I’m simply desperate for human company. De...

I know we are supposed to like fall, the time of harvest, first frosts, shorter days, and piles of golden leaves. In another world in anothe...

I count myself lucky to have a relatively safe, comfortable place to live while I figure out what is coming next. My landlord and I have a w...

Tis the season during which the residents of the mobile home park dress up in costumes and shuffle over to the clubhouse to drink strawberry...

I have one small victory to report. With a little help from my friend, I managed to replace the support struts on my minivan's liftgate ...

I had a birthday this week. To celebrate, I treated myself to the trifecta. I don't mean I went horse racing. I mean, I sidled on down t...

I whine a lot to my friends about the broken state of my brain. Yes, I am referring to the meatball in my head that I joke is constantly try...

The first time it happened, I thought I was mistaken. I chalked it up to my aging brain. The second time it happened, I began to suspect som...

I've been thinking about the past. You don't have to tell me that contemplating the past is rarely a good thing. Living today for a ...

Today I'm feeling a little like Dr. Doolittle might have felt. A little bird with a reddish chest was checking me out through the slidin...