Gatewood Press

08/12/2025

Click Bait: Hat's off to the information age and the need for a grain of salt.

So far, I’ve mostly enjoyed living in the information age. One big upside is the ability to find out information on obscure parts I need when repairing things. At the moment, I’m putting a new pull rope on my line trimmer and the mechanism needs a little clip to hold it all together. Turns out i...

08/11/2025

Empty House: I come home to a quiet place.

Another road trip is in the books, and I’m back at home. There’s a twist this time. The son who was living with me has found his own place. By the river. Nice. But… The emptiness was palpable when I walked into the yard and then the house. That will take some getting used to. Fortunately, he.....

08/09/2025

Gone: In something like magic, I disappear.

I disappeared yesterday. I was with a group of people. They were talking about plans. And p**f I was gone. Of course, although I might have felt invisible, I was probably still there in body, but nevertheless, I felt gone, disconnected. It’s not a new feeling for me, and I’m pretty sure, unlike ...

08/08/2025

With Friends: We are listening to music, we are making music. It's a holy noise.

I’m in Marathon. Texas. For a songwriting festival. This is my fifth year. Five years since my wife passed away in the same month in 2020. I came in the first year because friends put the wind of kind words in my sails and recommended it. The drive of five hours felt like I was going to the ends o...

08/07/2025

Boom: Eighty years ago we dropped the bombs, splitting atoms.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the second bomb falling on Nagasaki. Nearly a month later, September 2, Japan surrendered. It took close to a month for that decision to be made. In retrospect, given the fer

08/06/2025

Looking Around: Going fast is no longer the goal for me

Yesterday I was driving 70 down a road north of Fredericksburg, and I wondered why I was driving 70 down a road north of Fredericksburg. It’s a road with pretty scenery, courtesy of the Llano uplift, and trying to see it while driving 70, even if it is the posted speed limit, is a great way to get...

08/03/2025

We're going to be blogless for a day or two. John Wilson, the author of The Long Goodby: A Caregiver's Tale is taking a small vacation. If you'd like some reading while he's gone, here's an archive for your reading pleasure.
https://www.gatewoodpress.com/blog-index

08/03/2025

The post mortems have started. Let's hope they will end up saving lives down the road.

State lawmakers are in the Hill Country community most impacted by the July 4 flooding gathering testimony for legislation to address disaster preparedness and response efforts.

08/02/2025

The Price of Progress: Roads and cars are on the way, killing solitude as they go.

I live in a town that’s on the way to everywhere. The Highland Lakes are to the north and the wine country to the west. Two major metros are close at hand: Austin to the east, and San Antonio to the south. Those metros are growing. Highway 290 on the west side of Austin is expanding, widening, and...

08/01/2025

Keeping Up: A few words on having fun with computers.

I’m playing with AI. It’s fun, and useful. For the last several weeks, I’ve used AI to check this blog for “grammar, spelling, and usage.” It’s great at catching spelling errors, and is liberal with the use of commas. It has an odd affinity for the em dash, however, the sort of pause tha...

07/30/2025

Pain Point: They say no pain, no gain but does the internet have to be this hard.

I love the internet in so many ways, but hate it at the same time for so many others. Chiefly, I moan the loss of human contact in the area of giving and receiving instructions. At the moment, I am wrestling with a website trying to fulfill their requirements for them to stop charging me sales tax o

07/29/2025

Bird Story: Strange visitors come, but only stay awhile.

There was a banging in the fireplace yesterday. It’s too early for Christmas and Santa Claus, so I thought it might be an animal of some sort. Once upon a time, we had a fireplace where chimney swifts lived, and they made a raucous noise. But this was the heavier knocking of a much larger beast. S...