Category Archives: Writings

“What’s that? What’s that?” Evelyn asked, her little voice breaking through the noise. I was too busy reading the emergency weather alert on my phone, distracted by the obnoxious, repeating sound. It took me a second to snap out of it, like a boxer recovering from a right hook. I helped Evelyn understand that highContinue reading “Parenting in a Storm”

I take fun and twist it into a pretzel of complication and seriousness. I spoil the freshness with a single look, then toss my hair over my shoulder as if your puckered face doesn’t faze me. I’m addicted to the lines you draw, the waves on the page, the swirls of yellow, orange, and brown,Continue reading “Reviewing Reels: A Poem”

This week’s writing exercise is inspired by Chapter 7 of Ursula Le Guin’s Steering the Craft. The focus is on perspective, an area where I’ve been stumbling a bit. Fortunately, Joey helped clear things up during our weekly writing call. I skipped the third-person observer exercise because I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it,Continue reading “Perspective Writing Exercise”

From the soreness and stiffness in my thighs, hips, calves, and lower back, I know I did something that hurt so good. Running the 5k after months of healing my knee made me feel proud and ready for more. My eyelids are growing heavy, each blink getting longer, and with every close, I can feelContinue reading “A Race for a Slower Pace”

This urging is more like a pesky mosquito thought, reminding me to write in my book. Up until now, I’ve swatted it away with a flick. What’s stopping me is the feeling that I can’t do it. I tell myself it’s too complicated, like trying to untangle a knotted, knotty knot, so I don’t evenContinue reading “Starting is Winning”

Two solutions for the thumb-tip-sized acorns with needle-like points that adorn our lawn are being considered: a leaf vacuum or a long-handled circular paint roller-looking thing. Whatever I choose, my bare feet will be the judge of the device’s effectiveness. At my new favorite spot—legs outstretched on the front porch couch—I tune in to theContinue reading “Acorn Extraction”

I still can’t believe I live in Georgia. The thought hits me as the insect hum and sauna-like humidity greet me on the porch. An orangish, pumpkin moon hovers on the horizon, welcoming me to another southern evening. I’m trying out the screenless front porch tonight, lounging on the L-shaped couch that, just yesterday, satContinue reading “Designing Moonlit Moments”

In the quiet, cool air-conditioned space, I’m squirreled away at my desk in the closet, trying to write. The image of our communal patio, with its newly hung lights and the sound of family playing the board game Seven Wonders outside, tempts me. Seconds later, I give in. Now, I’m perched on the newly assembledContinue reading “The Ants Go Marching”

I filtered through the day like always, thumbing through it like it was the Yellow Pages—another symbol of how dated I sometimes feel. I don’t mind those moments of nostalgia, though, remembering the corded phone days when a boy who liked me would call, and I’d stretch the curly wire as far as it wouldContinue reading “Concrete and Comfort”

Three out of four of us started our walk at 5:30 this morning. An hour later, after a blister took one out and teaching kindergarten took the other, I slammed on my over-ear headphones, twisted my watch, and observed 2.5 miles, then vowed to double it as quickly as possible. Alone in the dawn’s darkness,Continue reading “Perspective Shape Shifting”