End of day lends itself to Gathering ephemera. Unsorted, a day succumbs. It’s all detritus and last-minute noise Eardrums ringing, hippocampus Vibrating. The occurrence of Night surprising as a summer cold, As easily forgiven for the rest it gives. End of day, casting off aspersions Like stitches, or old dogs– What agreement did we conjure…
Here is the look of the Midwest in a summer storm. To me, this landscape is not only the most familiar, it is the most comforting. How can a sky look so forbidding — so menacing and beautiful — but we are not allowed to do so? I was 14 and in my first year…
See this awesome family? These grown-ups are two of my oldest friends, T. Mallie and Adrian Brathwaite. Mallie (yes, that’s what I call her) and I have known each other since we met working at the Iowa State Daily back in 1990. She and Adrian met the same year when she was bartending and he…
Is it worth being sentimental over one tree? The last time I mentioned to friends that we might have to cut down our two huge Norway maples, one FB friend replied “good riddance. They are invasive species to New England anyway.” I sometimes think that our attachments to trees or cars or other “stuff” isn’t…
Trying to come up with a single small kindness to write about today for Fiona’s blogsplash has been one of the more difficult writing assignments I have been given in a while. Some of you know me, and so know the story of our family. If you don’t, I’ll just say that ours is not…
One of my favorite things to write about is PEOPLE. I often get the chance to interview people and just ask them: How did you end up here? By “here” I mean right where they are in their lives… doing exactly what they are doing. Cutting hair, owning a bar, running a business + being…
This is a Blogsplash. Today, Tuesday April 24th, bloggers around the world are blogging about their ‘most beautiful thing’, to celebrate the birth of Fiona Robyn’s new novel, The Most Beautiful Thing. On Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th April, you can download a copy free to your kindle, pc or phone, or win a free paperback. Click on…
I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster lately. Like many people (read: everyone) I know, I eat to feel “better.” Lately, the go-to food of choice for easing emotional bumps is the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel from Panera. — I accidentally remembered that Panera existed recently when I started going to the gym the next town…
When I hit 40 this year, I started to feel strange. Like I didn’t understand who I was in relation to that number. It was a creeping “old and used up” feeling. But I didn’t let that hang around. At some point in our lives, we reach an age that no longer makes sense. The…
On Accidental Meetings with Angst Today I was driving in the minivan across the river, when it hit me. I needed to screech. All these letter-perfect songs played themselves out over the speakers all day, telling me that the dull edged blade I was balancing on was tuned just right. I kept opening my mouth…
