“Hello-o-o, Canada!” I cheered, grinning at my teenage son in the passenger seat. I glanced in the rear view mirror and watched the border checkpoint fade into the horizon behind us. We had officially left Maine and were entering the parish …
Every now and then, my father would cut and hammer, move the wrong way and wedge a splinter into his skin. He’d march into our tiny kitchen and announce, “I done messed around and got somethin’ in my finger again.” …
For a long time, my favorite library was in the laundry room of my apartment building. It sprang up soon after my husband and I moved in, when someone left two cheap bookcases in the basement and a few cartons …
September 8, 2021
Heading out today, my thoughts refuse to settle, draining my mental energy. Escalating issues with a negligent window replacement company; pressure to get quotes to replace a long rotting retaining wall that is housing wasps, at least …
Watching my friend Christy care for her mother, I am awed and a little ashamed. Rosemary is eighty-nine and in hospice. Christy is her full-time caretaker. I’m awed because Christy is oriented toward Rosemary like a new mother with a …
“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this:” – Pablo Neruda, Sonnet XVII
I write with the …
“Promise me.”
In the silence between her request and my response, I panic.
No.
Don’t ask me.
It’s not fair.
You have the advantage – you’re dying.
“Promise … what?” I ask.
She reaches across the restaurant table and rests …
The room was filled with the warm glow of soft lighting and the sounds of hushed sniffles and gentle sobs. It was neatly appointed with artsy photos of western mountain scenes on the walls. There was ample space for the …
“Look, I’m standing on one foot,” my mother said proudly.
For three years she went to physical therapy. The exercises and stretches she did there helped ease the pain in her back caused by arthritis, herniated discs and sciatica. She …
14-15 April 1992
El Regiomontano (Mexico City – Monterrey)
***
Welcome to the Regiomontano – a purely first-class train: several cars of primera especial, a bar car and a dining car. Behind are the sleepers. Not a second-class or …