I called Old Jim on the cell this afternoon. I had not talked to him for a week or so, and wanted to check in once I realized that it was his birthday. Heather and I were talking about it at The Front Page last night. Jon-without-an-H was on her other side, marking the four-month […]

(Tinker Belle and her distinctive ink behind the bar at Willow). Tinker Belle was serving the drinks behind the Willow’s long bar when I came in off the street. Admiral Mac Showers had already arrived, and I brightened when I saw that he was permitting himself an Anchor Steam beer, which meant that his session […]

(Panoramic View of the Naval War College campus at Newport, Rhode Island). Willow was quiet that afternoon. It was a bit early for Old Jim to limp down the block for happy hour, and Mac Showers and I had were the only customers inside. A couple tables were full out on the patio, but the […]

Willow was just starting to take on the energy of the post-work Happy Hour Crowd. Liz-with-an-S was behind the bar, and working some of the questions for admission to the Virginia Bar. She is already admitted to New York and New Jersey- but that wasn’t quite good enough to crash the protective gates of the […]

Peter was behind the bar, which means that this undated interview happened sometime before he either got fired or decamped downtown on his own volition. There is no one who could pour a more infuriating martini- the surface tension alone held the precious liquid in the glass, making it almost impossible to take the first […]

(Sabrina, spiritualist and vendor of spirits behind the Willow Bar). Sabrina was on duty behind the Willow bar. She is an intensely spiritual mixologist, and you can always get your palm read or get an account of the full karmic impact of whatever is happening on our side of the bar from her. Saturn was […]

Harbor park bench Cup of Shizuoka tea Cormorant floats On a placid sea copyright J.P.N. | Poetry, Etc., From Kanagawa, South of Tokyo, Japan www.carllafong.blogspot.jp

Mac did not have a good weekend, nothing bad, but the Docs had taken beer away from him again. Boomer had the shift off to do family business, and Big Jim was covering for her along with Liz-with-an-S. There was energy in town, the elections and the partisans on both sides had become irritating. It […]

(COMNAVAIRPAC Headquarters, Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, CA). Boomer was behind the Willow bar, and she was pouring with abandon. I had not had a good day at the office, and it was a relief to her about what her kids were up to, how her Dad was doing, and the rest of the […]

(1966-vintage shrapnel from a rocket attack in Saigon). Willow was quiet, but it was a wary quiet, awaiting the arrival of people who would drink away the stress of the day. Old Jim was listening to music on his MP3 Player, Mac Showers was dressed casually in an aloha shirt and slacks. Jasper was holding […]