The mountains erupted out of the gaping landscape with impossible might, etched against saturated blue sky with equal parts gravitas and elegance. One wished to capture and hold them, but the scenery never sat quietly for its portrait, and instead wiggled and squirmed disobediently, this moment stirring the heart to rapture, and that, an austere and unforgiving reminder of life’s transience. A sunbeam piercing through … Continue reading Morning Miniature 7.2.23
It is Monday, the first full day in my week-long visit to Dad’s place down in Chattanooga, to his comfortable house in the suburbs (more properly in Ringgold, just over the Georgia state line) he shares with Sheryl, his lovely wife of many years. These travel plans have been in the works since way back in the fall; Sheryl and her two daughters who straddle … Continue reading Reflection: A Father’s Day Gift
What is it about permanence that is so alluring on the one hand, and so vexing on the other. When my kiddo was tiny, he developed an appetite for drawing and coloring with permanent markers because they were forbidden. If his tiny fingers found their way around a Sharpie, in short order I’d have to pry it loose and then replace it with a less-desirable … Continue reading Reflection: The Places That Mark Us Indelibly
In Which We Visit New England to Celebrate the Life of a Family Matriarch Only a few days home from our ambitious travels, and we’ve concluded the sacred institution that is The American Road Trip is in a perilous state at a moment the world is still emerging from COVID, a moment we hoped things might have changed for the better since traveling (moving!) when … Continue reading April 2023 Travelogue: Road Trip
But it has been a bad season for pollen, even the locals say so. And even though we’re now locals too, we’re still too green (or yellow, as the case may be) to know what qualifies as “bad” for spring pollen in coastal North Carolina. Evidently this does. Our new home has a screened porch adjacent to the open interior living space on the first … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Life’s Been Pretty Good Lately
Every elementary school in this metropolis reeked by May of stale lunch, chewed-up pencils, and a fatigue that hung heavily, everywhere; on the staff it also betrayed itself in their careworn expressions. The dismissal queue came a little earlier every day while teachers crowed deadline reminders over the din of desks jostled out of place, casualties of children headed for the door with an urgency … Continue reading Afternoon Miniature 3.12.23
Or dog poop, take your pick. Preamble It is Friday at 2:00 am, and I sense a furry critter bedside staring me down, standing where he normally does not. Scoutie, what is going on? He paces over to our bedroom door and peers out into the living room. I can tell his brow is wrinkled from the forward position of his ears, like maybe he … Continue reading Reflection: Effective Communication Is Worth Its Weight in Gold
Tabby is a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells. —Wikipedia “Maybe we ought to build a wall instead of a fence.” The words spilled out of me suddenly as they’re wont to do, even though the thought had been knocking around in my head for a while. Chef David … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: We Need Lowcountry Tabby Concrete
Constance was not as old-fashioned as her name and in fact the suggestion of youth lingered in her face and hair still, surprisingly, for her age. The woman staring back at her in the bathroom mirror was attractive enough, she reassured herself. Lately, though, she had put on some weight, not too much, but enough to make her tug at her clothing all day unless … Continue reading Afternoon Miniature 1.8.23
We finally did it, gentle reader, bought our first (and last?) artificial Christmas tree. There she stands at an impressive nine-point-five feet, all aglow with baked-in lights, and strewn with garland and all our favorite ornaments. Right off the bat, let me just say we miss that fragrance, you know the one. Thus far we’ve tried burning a scented candle to compensate, but because we … Continue reading Lies, Damn Lies, and Fake Christmas Trees
Carolina Thinklings 