Craig Tyson Adams

My feet are cold. I tried to pull them back under the covers. But, no matter how much I try, I can’t get them covered. This is weird. The sun is up and glaring through the windows, so I throw the sheets back and twist myself to put my feet on the floor. As my eyes adjust, my knees are eye level. “What the hell is going on?” I stand up and look down. The bed looks like a postage stamp. My dog usually gets up at the same time. He’s awake, but instead of smiling and wagging his tail, he cocked his ears up and he’s looking at me sideways like the RCA dog. Still disoriented, I head to the bathroom and forget to duck until the last second. Did the house shrink? I enter the bathroom and look in the mirror. “Holy shit! I’m Kevin Durant !” I stand up straight to look at myself in the mirror. I’m so tall all I can see is my torso. I put my arms out and flex and realize I am now an adonis! Cool! What to do? Imagining the possibilities is sensory overload. First things first. I have to find someth

Mike Davis took ball four from Dennis Eckersley and made his way to first. Eck got the first two batters out easily. Walking Davis was an uncharacteristic move, but they were teammates the year before with the Athletics and Davis had a good year with 24 home runs. Tony La Russa, the manager of the A’s, decided whoever the Los Angeles Dodgers had on the bench was less dangerous. I was in the cheap seats. The upper of the upper deck on the third base side. We jammed the place. We were all standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder. It seemed like we were all breathing together synchronistically. When Davis walked, we all knew he was the potential tying run and we simultaneously let out a roar. Now the question was, who was going to pinch hit? Mike Davis had pinch hit for the light hitting shortstop, Alfredo Griffin, in the 8th hole. The pitcher’s number 9 slot in the batting order was due next. Kirk Gibson was the Dodgers’ most valuable player in 1988. He had come over to the club that

Just when you think you've found a suitable restaurant, antisocial hospitality reveals itself. We went out to a restaurant recently. It’s momentous for us because, usually, it all turns out to be a disappointment. The food is usually lacking. It’s too salty or too dry. It’s overcooked to the point of being burnt or undercooked, to the point of being almost raw.  Sometimes, I like raw food. Sashimi is good. Steak Tartare, although it sounds wrong, is also a treat. But not if I bite into a chicken and it’s pink. That’s just not right. Steak can be pink and be perfect. Not chicken or pork.  The point to all of this is that going out to eat is always a gamble. When it has nothing to do with the food, it’s the presentation. And when I say presentation, I am talking about not only the look of the plate when it’s served, but the people that make up the restaurant staff.  Servers and waitresses have a demanding job. It’s way more difficult than it should be. Working with the public can b

Son, meet baseball . My old friend.  I was thinking back to the favorite sports conversation we had a few days ago, and I thought that spelling out my love for baseball would help you understand more than just telling it. When I was 8 years old, my grandfather called me into the house where he was watching a game. He sat me down and said, ‘I want you to watch this next hitter. His name is Willie Mays. He’s the greatest player I ever saw. I want you to tell your children that you saw him play.’ That was the beginning of my romance with baseball.  Baseball is unlike other sports for my generation because baseball is truly generational. My father took me to my first baseball game, just like his father took him.  I had the pleasure of attending a game with them both, which gave us a commonality, something of a reference that led to bonding unlike anything else. It was a shared experience that we could relate to.  I played baseball with my friends. The game would take place in an abandoned

A hospital orderly with a wheelchair arrives with the nurse. “Okay Sarah, we’re ready.”  Mike asked the nurse, “Is it okay if I go in with her?”  The hospital orderly gives the nurse a quick look.  “Getting stitches is a minor procedure that may take a little longer than you think. You mentioned something about food a little while ago and you could go now if you like."  “I will be fine. Have something to eat and I will text you when its over.” Sarah said. Mike leans over and gives Sarah a peck on the forehead.  “Okay. Please text me. I’ll see you when you get back.”  They took Sarah out of the room. Mike walks to the exit and heads out of the hospital.  As he walks through the waiting room, his eye catches a young girl.  She’s around 9 to 10 years old. Her face is white, and she has dark bags under her eyes.   “She looks haunted,” Mike said to himself.  Mike exits the hospital. He looks across the street and sees the 24-hour diner that the nurse recommended. Mike jaywalks and dash

There are a lot of  protesting  protesters these days. It seems that protesting has become the thing to do again. Protesting is more popular today than it has been since the late 1960’s and early 70’s.  On college campuses, the streets outside government buildings and in town halls, large cities and small communities have experienced Americans of all walks of life protesting and demonstrating against issues real, and, at times, imagined. “We’re protesting because we don’t like what is going on!” said one protester who was protesting at a protest. “There are so many injustices that there are almost too many to count!” exclaimed another protester at one other protest. “The only way that someone can get their voice heard is through demonstration, picketing and protesting!” yet another protester proclaimed at yet another protest. There is another side to all the protesting. “We’re here to exercise our right to protest all the protesters who are protesting!” expressed an anti-protester.  “D

There is a video  of the Beatles circulating that is extraordinary. I haven’t seen anything like it before.  It’s a clip of Paul McCartney from Peter Jackson’s reconstruction of the ill-fated Beatles Get Back project now streaming on Disney+.  In it, McCartney shows up in the morning, along with bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they complain that John Lennon is late again. “We’ll have to get rid of him." McCartney jabs. It’s a harbinger of things to come as the Beatles broke up later that year. Then something extraordinary happens. It's The Beatles after all. McCartney sits down and starts to noodle around on his bass guitar. Randomly strumming and scatting a melody, and, in mere seconds, a tune starts to take shape.  A caption on the screen says, ‘Feeling pressure of their approaching deadline, Paul searches for new song ideas.’ After a few seconds the now familiar strains of the Beatles song Get Back starts to emerge.  He’s being open to motivation . It’s what ha