Category: Essays

Essays, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Reading, Reflections, Writing

Reflection: The Singular Joys of a Paper Magazine Subscription

Not too long ago I ordered a subscription to The New Yorker, the three-dimensional paper version. It’s just one of many gifts to myself in recent years that represent an attempt to regain ‘wholeness’ after the financial ruination that marked the end of my first marriage in 2012. I’m savvy enough to know there’s much from that long chapter I’ll never have, or get to … Continue reading Reflection: The Singular Joys of a Paper Magazine Subscription

Unknown's avatarDeb German2 Comments
Chef David, Essays, Home, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Reflections, The South, Travel, Weather, Wilmington, North Carolina

How a Control Freak Deals With Nature

When I was a young student of archaeology, I recall being gobsmacked by the notion that the curvaceous Tennessee River had changed its course again and again over millennia and the one I knew, the one whose bluff I lived on for roughly a decade and where my kid spent the first few years of his life, probably looked radically different from the river native … Continue reading How a Control Freak Deals With Nature

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Dogs, Essays, Home, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Running, Running With Dogs, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, The South, Vermont, Writing

Reflection: Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever at 11½

Some 900-plus days into our tenure in coastal North Carolina, and I believe this dog has finally made his peace with the sometimes-oppressive humidity, the stormy nights, rambunctious neighborhood kids, the unpredictable action of the ocean on a good beach day, and all the rest. And while he may not have whole-heartedly embraced all these conditions in his life, like most dogs living their best … Continue reading Reflection: Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever at 11½

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Chef David, Dogs, Essays, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photography, Reflections, Storytelling, Writing

Reflection: The Current State of Things

It is five of five in the morning and I am hanging my head over the sofa from behind it, about to awaken a sleeping chef until I realize he is wide awake. I am driving him to an early appointment at the doctor’s office in an hour for a little thing, so it is time to get moving. He is not fine, he tells … Continue reading Reflection: The Current State of Things

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments
Essays, Reflections, Writers, Writing

Reflection: Why Is ‘Hurrying Never’ So Elusive?

You know that feeling at the end of the day, when the anxiety of that-which-I-must-do falls away… That moment when you think, Oh God, what have I done with this day? And what am I doing with my life? And how must I change to avoid catastrophic end-of-life regrets? […] At the end of my life, I know I won’t be wishing I’d held more … Continue reading Reflection: Why Is ‘Hurrying Never’ So Elusive?

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Architecture, Books, Essays, History, Knoxville, Tennessee, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, North Carolina History, The South, Travel

Reflection: Forgotten Dwellings, Untold Stories

There are stretches of busy highway here and elsewhere in coastal North Carolina where dwellings long abandoned stand in various states of ruin; some are so far gone an observer must look closely to find any evidence at all of the built structure nature seems intent to reclaim. Nor is it unusual for glossy new shopping centers or prosperous neighborhoods to pop up on either … Continue reading Reflection: Forgotten Dwellings, Untold Stories

Unknown's avatarDeb German2 Comments
Books, Essays, Non-Fiction, Storytelling, The South, Travel, Writers, Writing

Reflection: Exploring the Deep South (Slowly) With Paul Theroux

A certain ‘smart speaker’ makes quick book purchases a tad too easy, doesn’t she? Open email, flip through the Times book review, ask her to buy it now, and Bam! an exciting new read (or a pile of ‘em) shows up on your doorstep in a day or two. To make matters worse, I happen to be a hardcover snob and relent to a paperback … Continue reading Reflection: Exploring the Deep South (Slowly) With Paul Theroux

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Chef David, Descriptive Writing, Essays, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Running Injuries, Storytelling, The South, Vermont, Writing

Reflection: Piloting Through Chapter and Verse

Memories that pop up in social feeds can be cruel, but as often they’re so beautiful. Once in a while, images surface as reminders Chef David and I somehow found time to do things together, a lot of things, in the chapter that was life in Vermont. But leisure time seems so elusive somehow in this chapter. We’ve been in our new house for a … Continue reading Reflection: Piloting Through Chapter and Verse

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments
Ballet, Essays, Home, Journaling, Memoirs, Vermont, Writing

Reflection: I Have Stories to Tell

The last two things I remember about the day I left Knoxville forever were gripping fear and a cameo of my ex-husband’s backside as he stood before the kitchen sink with the tap open. He was washing his hands (metaphorically too, I suppose) while the morning sunlight filtered through the stained-glass window framing him; I hoped with all my might he was bawling, but I … Continue reading Reflection: I Have Stories to Tell

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments