THESE TIMES

“To the earth you are scattered

You’re going home, so what does it matter?

To an atomic mind

Scattered here while you travel time.”

— The Kinks, “Scattered”

My 64th orbit of the sun will be complete in a couple of weeks, and one thing that amazes me about this accretion of years is how slow it’s gone. I would have thought I’d be 100 by now.

In the interest of taking stock from this vast vista, and sparing my survivors the burden of busy work, here’s my sanctioned obit:

Kirk Ericson

Kirk Ericson, (fill in age), of Olympia died (fill in date) at Mason General Hospital after waging an apathetic b...