Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

June 2025

  • A Hospital Morning With Poetry

    This morning was hospital day. This is when I make the mortgage and car payments for the doctors. A friend of mine always receives hugs when she meets with the nurses and doctors. I was greeted with a cheerful, “Good… Continue reading

  • Bone Spur (The Movie) El Espolón Óseo (La película)

    Scene: A dust swirl drifts across a field. Through the dust we see a ranch house. Two children are playing in the yard. A young woman is milking a goat. An older woman cooking on a grill and oven outdoors.… Continue reading

  • The  Treacherous Connoisseur: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

    One morning⸺ it was on the fifteenth of May⸺ I was returning from visiting a colleague in Oxford when I entered that well-known door on Baker Street.  Violin music, played with fierce energy, wafted from those rooms Sherlock Holmes inhabited.… Continue reading

  • Trump Plays Mousetrap in Flip-Flops like Wilie E. Coyote Chasing the Roadrunner

    June 14th  will be remembered in history as a turning point. The assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. The attempted assassination of Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. This was the day… Continue reading

  • On Libraries and Freedom

    I hesitated in the grip of withdrawals. “Go! Get out!” Lynn Tanaka firmly told me on my final day on Mayne Island. Taking a few reluctant steps towards the door, my eyes locked on the neatly arranged shelves in her… Continue reading

  • The Running Man

    EXPECTATIONS, EXCEPTIONS & DEPORTATION It happened quickly. He knew the risks, but what choice did he have? There was a family to feed. Maybe today, they wouldn’t notice him. He kept to the speed limit. Then, in the review mirror,… Continue reading

  • THE RULE DIALOGUES

    THE RULE DIALOGUES She was a stranger I encountered in the Miners Bay Book shop on Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada. Over the next three months, she was my Saturday morning breakfast companion at the Sunny Mayne Bakery Café. Each… Continue reading

  • Dissent, the Secret of Democracy

    The United States is a nation founded upon dissent. Colonialists often voiced their protests against the British government’s policies. On the 1st of November, 1765, when the Stamp Act was about to be enacted, New Yorkers flew flags at half-staff… Continue reading

  • Life in The Vinyl Café

    A quiet, rainy morning. The rainfall began during the night, a soothing, tapping sound on the roof and windows. I am an odd duck, preferring cloudy, rainy days to cloudless ones with summer sunlight glaring down like an angry god.… Continue reading

  • LEARNING FROM JAMES RESTON

    I had more than a few reservations about writing a blog. In today’s environment, we are inundated with podcasts, posts, tweets, videos from various sources, and round-the-clock news. “Why bother?” I asked myself. The last time I had a blog,… Continue reading