To Trent on our 6th anniversary 1. It was there all along, filled with light, sound, familiar voices, quiet conversation, children laughing. You could never see their faces—just shadows moving in the purple evening light, a cheekbone silhouette, wavy hair, a hand reaching out. 2. Daily errands and long runs took you past that place … More The Key
i wrote poetry once upon a time every day until you raged at me for writing a poem about someone we knew who wasn’t you so i stopped writing poems. that must have been quite the victory for you, but today i will start again, and i will not give you another line in my … More 2.28.17
“The weatherman says it’s miserable, but the snow is so beautiful….” Indeed, snow would be an improvement on the view out my window this morning. The gray sky is alternating between spitting tiny drops of water and raining so hard the sound on the roof is deafening. With the lights off, it could be late … More Day 6: Joy
Apparently today is National Poetry Day? I thought April was all about the poetry, but Twitter says it is National Poetry Day, so it must be true. I’m working on so many unfinished drafts of not poetry, but here’s a poem I wrote about my grandma Norma Jean 15 years ago (FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, WHAT?). … More Southern Comfort
When I was a little kid I used to sit for hours in my mom’s old bedroom in my grandparents’ house, at the foot of a dresser that is now in my own guest room, and look at old pictures. The bottom two drawers of that dresser were full to overflowing with photographs, and I … More Magic
A few weeks ago the girl went for a walk with our neighbor and her daughter and their puppy. (We have put a moratorium on the addition of new animals to our household, so she takes opportunities where she can get them.) As soon as she got back to our yard she told me I … More Snakes in the Grass
One of my favorite episodes of “Designing Women” includes a conversation between Mary Jo (Annie Potts) and Julia (Dixie Carter) in which Mary Jo admits taking the shirt she’s wearing out of the dirty clothes hamper earlier that morning and ironing it because she is too tired and busy to do laundry. Julia’s response is one … More Dirty Laundry
Yesterday was the first day that my children and I interacted with people other than the members of our household and my daughter’s best friend from down the street since #snowpacolypse last Thursday night. Of those five days, three of them were legit snowed-in days. Cars stuck in the driveway, roads covered, church closed, hope you don’t need anything … More Bourbon Bacon Marmalade
I read a blog post last summer that won’t let go of me. I don’t remember where I read it, who wrote it, where it originated, only the topic, which I have labeled in my mind as “photographs are liars.” The post was made up of a series of pictures of several different women who were suffering from varying degrees … More A picture’s worth a thousand lies
I was talking to my almost 9 year-old on the way home from school the other day, reminding her that I was leaving for dinner with some friends when her dad got home and that I wouldn’t be back until after she was asleep. This is always a touchy issue with her, because clearly no … More Friend me.
one small corner of the universe 