Writing for this paper had been surprisingly pleasant. It has been a surprise that I’ve been able to write something short. There have been times when a good chunk of things don’t show up in my column because it wouldn’t fit. That’s even before Keri or Paula see it.

Writing something short on a schedule and being published is a big deal to me. I know my tangents are pretty much all of what I can say under the topic umbrella Paula gives us. I have written a lot about gardens and the outdoors and summertime. I talked about 60s music and Stanley Kubrick. If we spent enough time in some social setting, perhaps plants and coffee at Zocalo, we could have those subjects come up in conversation.

Presently, I’m at home drinking coffee that I made myself with Keri, who shares the top portion of this page. Keri and I would talk when I met up with her at the LRT station after work (a place we now refer to as a Hellmouth). We would talk on the way home and she would have something to say that sounded like a newspaper column to me. Finding the Boyle McCauley News was a natural fit. A few years after Keri started writing for the paper, I started contributing as well.

The thing about writing something short is that I used to write letters. I may have mentioned that I was a pen pal. I wrote to people I met at summer camp or church functions. There is nothing quite like a real letter with recognizable handwriting that suites the author.

This makes me suspicious of social media. Handwriting and text are in no way comparable to me. I do note that you may be reading this from a printed paper, which is another archaic concept.

The point I’m making is that I’m very happy to be doing this and talking to whomever finds me entertaining or informative. This is a very cheerful thing to be doing whether or not you take up reading George Orwell while listening to Eric Clapton on my recommendation or not. Thank you for your time and attention.

Reinhardt lives in Boyle Street with his wife, Keri Breckenridge.