My journal of big words and pretty pictures
The reading room reminded Carl of Great Aunt Gertrude’s parlor. On special visits to her house, Gertrude would let him look through the new Sears & Roebuck catalog. Carl would giggle at the brassiere models with their conical breasts, and high-waisted girdles. Gertrude diligently censored the men’s underwear section, expertly cropping the offending pages. After … Continue reading For hire
Her arcane speech was difficult to follow. It was like trying to decipher a cryptic language, and not just the lexicon of a bygone era. Even the name she used to introduce herself, Goody Birdwhistle, was a mystery, because Goody was neither her actual first name, nor a description of her temperament. Widowed five decades … Continue reading Neighborhood Cat Lady
June 6, 2010; originally published at "If Mom Says OK" Today, I wept. The outer edge of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reached the Panhandle of Florida. I walked the beaches of Navarre, a few miles southeast of Pensacola and found small tar balls at the tide line. … Continue reading Five years ago – Deep Horizon
Don’t be so loud, someone might hear you Don’t color outside of the lines You’re too big to be a jockey, or an astronaut You don’t have enough grace to be a ballerina Science and math are for boys Girls can’t be strong, can’t be leaders You’re not smart enough You’re not good enough Dreams … Continue reading Make your own rules
The story so far… Old Wives’ Tale After four days on Pappy’s bus, Amelia was grateful to see the blue haze of the Smoky Mountains as they drove south over the Blue Ridge Parkway. She wished that her daughters could see how beautiful they were. They would have loved the sweet smell of the spring … Continue reading Moving mountains
The story so far… Old Wives’ Tale I don’t know what Casper promised his men, but they came back to work despite their unease, and the renovations were near completion in record time. Where piles of building materials once laid, new hardwood floors were awaiting a final cleaning and sealing. Walls were up and ready … Continue reading A cog in a wheel
Thin spiral notebook 