Dead Stop

My dad and I got on the 60 Freeway going east at about 5:00 pm one day. I was 16 and it was a driving lesson. Back then our family had an old Ford Econoline van and I was in charge of all it’s 5,000 pounds.
Traffic was light as I got on the road and I was having fun feeling the van taking speed as I pressed on the accelerator. I kept on looking down at the Speedometer, proudly conscious the effect of my pressing foot and how it then moved the needle. I was so mesmerized that I didn’t really see the red lights in front of me and the traffic that had begun to stall. Right under the 710 freeway my father yelled at me to stop and by luck I found THE brake. The van’s wheels screeched and I felt my dad’s hands at my chest.

When we were stopped he looked at me for a while and then we had to move on. I didn’t drive again for a while and I can’t say I blame him.

Lack of Silence

I remember the night when we marked the sign that told us if we should call it quits. We were at The Stinking Rose on La Cienega having dinner and across our booth we saw a somewhat-40 couple having a too quiet dinner. They hardly shared a glance and there was almost no chit-chat.
We agreed then that if we became like them then it was time to rethink things.

Years later the two of us were blabbing to each other at the Pho spot in Monrovia and for a moment I stopped and thought…hey we’re still ok!

Tamale Toil

A kitchen divided against itself cannot stand. Mom was recently informed that we’d like to try a slight change to her time-tested Tamale recipe. The request came from our home’s CEO. I felt the immediate tension as the deliverer of news and a de facto mediator. But as two-score and eight minutes ago the masa and newer/older ingredients have been laid out and tomorrow’s dinner will be rather special

An Immigrant Gives Thanks

When we crossed the border many years ago seeking a new life it wasn’t glamorous and uncertainty was high. Our parents had a dream though and they hoped we’d realize it. 
Their hopes were simple. 
Contribute positively to the community that may adopt you, act in accordance to a set of commandments and educate yourselves so that you may educate others. My father knew he may not get to today with us but if he had he’d see something I consider special. All his immigrant children now adopted into the community of Citizenship coming together with families to give Thanks. 
He isn’t though so I get to share with others the pride he would have certainly felt because I know I do. 
Thank you America!

A New Hope

One would think that I have given up on this Blog. I haven’t but I certainly pressed the Pause button on it a while ago.

I have not written much here but that doesn’t meant that I have not put thoughts on line over time. To the contrary. I have expressed much more but in other platforms.

Now with the end of the year coming I’d like to back-fill for posterity some of my favorite thoughts from around the interwebs. Some of these are tied to specific events and I’m afraid that in sharing them on this blog they may come to loose their meaning.  My hope is that in time they’ll be read as my stream of consciousness and someone may one day come to appreciate what the whole of them meant as one work.

With that said. Here we go…

New Starts

Life didn’t really begin at Casa Torres until Nic (my wife) and I kick-started it. 
That’s changing. 
This morning I was awoken to the sounds of a sliding glass door and feet running out to the chicken coop to tend to our egg givers. Then a bit later there was clanking of spoons, dishes and beeps from the microwave as a simple breakfast was being made. As I contemplate getting up I know teeth have been brushed, TV remotes found and there’s been some controversy over what Saturday morning show to watch on their shared TV. 
Guess I should go make myself useful.