Category: Non-Fiction

AI rendering of a healthy retina (fundus photo)
Communicating, Essays, Knoxville, Tennessee, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome, Retina Diseases, Storytelling, Writing

Reflection: Apparently, I Don’t Have a Retina Condition

It is the first Saturday morning in a long while we can sit outside on the screened porch and have our coffee without melting. Friday’s afternoon storms have cooled the atmosphere considerably after weeks on end of blistering days, and now a sudden cleansing downpour is a gift from the heavens. Smells nice, too. A clap of thunder sends our young Henry-the-Hound skittering for cover … Continue reading Reflection: Apparently, I Don’t Have a Retina Condition

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
The Arthur Heurtley House (1902) shows the early emergence of Wright’s Prairie style. Notably, the ochre color palette explodes against the lush foliage that is everywhere in this neighborhood.
Architecture, Chef David, Chicago, Family, Frank Lloyd Wright, History, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photo Essay, Photography, Travel

Travelogue: Oak Park Is Frank Lloyd *Right*

A road trip to Oak Park, just out of Chicago, is roughly fifteen or so hours from out here in coastal North Carolina where we live, if you happen to be looking at a map. We’re not gluttons for punishment. It’s just, when you weigh the options, meh, might as well drive. As one of my dearest friends who lives in Chicago texted when we … Continue reading Travelogue: Oak Park Is Frank Lloyd *Right*

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Henry-the-Hound with a blanket stuck on his back
Cross-Training for Runners, Dogs, Henry-the-Hound, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Running, Running With Dogs, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, Wilmington, North Carolina, Writing, Yoga

Sunday Almanac 5.3.26: Dog Days Are Fun

Not when it’s 85° outside and your HVAC system quits. We’re not even there yet, not even close to the Dog Days, so named for the constellation Sirius and the ancients’ belief it contributed to drought and madness, goes the lore. Those days are still months away. Aside from the sweat-inducing heat upstairs in this house, up in the loft where I work my full-time … Continue reading Sunday Almanac 5.3.26: Dog Days Are Fun

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Knoxville Ballet School lec-dem on the stage at Knoxville Museum of Art in February 2012
American Ballet Theatre, Ballet, Descriptive Writing, Essays, Knoxville, Tennessee, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Reflections, Travel, Writing

Reflection: Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to LaGuardia

The surly flight attendant held the small black mic to her lips and advised us to keep our seatbelts fastened while the plane taxied to the gate. Nobody in their right mind would challenge this humorless woman. A moment earlier my heart jumped when our plane seemed to descend not toward a reassuring paved runway, but instead into the East River; from my seat I … Continue reading Reflection: Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to LaGuardia

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
empty living room in a Tudor-style house, with hardwood floors, banks of casement windows on one wall, crossbeams on the ceiling, and a massive fireplace at one end
Architecture, Essays, Family, History, Home, Knoxville, Tennessee, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Parenting

Reflection: You Can Never Go Home

They’re over here on the sofa passed out in their prom dresses. My friend Molly’s observation came in her familiar silken contralto voice at the other end of the phone line, and made me giggle. It was time to go retrieve my toddler from an afternoon play date with hers just a few blocks away, and it sure sounded like it had been a good … Continue reading Reflection: You Can Never Go Home

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our house and driveway all lit up with luminaria on Christmas Eve, 2025
Chef David, Christmas, Communicating, Essays, Family, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Parenting, Reflections, Travel, Wilmington, North Carolina, Writing

Christmas 2025, in the Books

I am sitting in a nail salon at a small, round table with a fan trained on my outspread fingernails, which are painted an appealing shade of pale aquamarine. There are three little piles of business cards in holders on the table, and because the staff seem intent on torturing me with this obscenely long drying ritual, I have plenty of time to scrutinize them. … Continue reading Christmas 2025, in the Books

Unknown's avatarDeb GermanLeave a comment
Autumn, Baking, Bread Baking, Christmas, Dogs, Essays, Family, Food, Home, Knoxville, Tennessee, Marriage, Non-Fiction, Reflections, Writing

Reflection: No Use Crying

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry. ― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms There was … Continue reading Reflection: No Use Crying

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Henry-the-Hound comically asleep with his head hanging off our leather armchair
Asheville, Autumn, Chef David, Dogs, Essays, Family, Food, Henry-the-Hound, Home, Hurricane Helene, Journaling, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, Storytelling, The South, Travel, Writing

Sunday Almanac: It Is Good to Be Home

The season has changed and suddenly I find myself anticipating the holidays. I am the first to condemn the world for jumping the gun on every ‘Hallmark’ holiday, to thumb my nose at Halloween swag on store shelves in August and Christmas décor in October, and so this mood is unusual for me. I offer only the paltry excuse that a sense of nostalgia settled … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: It Is Good to Be Home

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Fallen Tree Farm Bed & Breakfast Carlisle, PA
Architecture, Chef David, Dogs, Henry-the-Hound, History, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photography, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, Travel, Writing

Travelogue: We Three Land in Carlisle

Cross the Mason-Dixon line driving north through Virginia (and a small, weirdo finger of West Virginia) and you enter Pennsylvania’s topographically interesting southern reaches, with the Appalachians all around, and the northernmost outpost of Krispy Kreme Donuts in Scranton, home of the fictitious and also delicious Dunder Mifflin. It is what we did Monday afternoon, arriving at Fallen Tree Farm near Carlisle well before nightfall … Continue reading Travelogue: We Three Land in Carlisle

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Henry-the-Hound on the fireplace hearth
Dogs, Essays, Family, Henry-the-Hound, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photography, Running, Running With Dogs, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, Storytelling

Sunday Almanac: Introducing Danger Dog

Maybe he doesn’t speak English, my son observed roughly three weeks ago, just after we invited one smallish hound (think mid-sized two-door sedan) into our family. Get over here, please, stat, I beseeched him, and thankfully he and his BFF complied, driving the five hours from Asheville and arriving on a Sunday night. They spent several comical hours trying to address the dog in various … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Introducing Danger Dog

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments