Sometimes, it’s just hard to keep up. This Christmas season, there has been so much good. As I stare at the beautiful plate of sugary goodness: peppermint bark, frosted cookies, candies sprinkled with red and green sugars, delivered by a longtime friend, I worry that in my own struggles to keep up with my dailyContinue reading “Eggs in Winter”
Author Archives: 1maniac1989
Turtles, Chickens, and the Stuff In Between
I didn’t look back; I couldn’t, for fear of what I would see. The sound was hollow, soul-shaking, and unforgettable. It must have broken into a thousand pieces. The lagoon has always been one of my favorite spots. I have been to breathtaking European gardens and tropical sandy beaches, but DeKalb’s East Lagoon is whereContinue reading “Turtles, Chickens, and the Stuff In Between”
Going Home
It could have been a driving snowstorm, or maybe the thickest, most dense fog that I had experienced; I don’t remember the precise conditions, but the fear will never leave my memory. I’m a nervous driver anyway, but this night, travel would have been unsafe even for the seasoned race car driver. I should haveContinue reading “Going Home”
When the Doors are Closed
The chickens were locked out of their coop, and darkness had done its best to set in. It was a warm night, and I could almost hear the stillness in the stolen radiance of this late autumn evening. There was a rustle, and then a sort of panicked chicken sound, followed by more of theContinue reading “When the Doors are Closed”
If It’s Over
When the lists are longer than the number of days, and more chores roll out as they present themselves, there is a good chance that it’s not all going to get done. I sank my shovel into the edge of my fourteen by twenty-two foot garden plot and stood quietly to watch the combines, mechanicalContinue reading “If It’s Over”
There’s a Chicken in My Car: October Baseball and Other Rarities
She wanted to know what she should bake; she was taking suggestions via Facebook. My friend Chrissy is a self-proclaimed therapeutic baker. She’s also a foster mom. She goes to court, she comes home, and she bakes. And lucky are we that live close enough to be her neighbors. Foremost in my mind as theContinue reading “There’s a Chicken in My Car: October Baseball and Other Rarities”
Words
I was so distracted by what she had said that the rest of her words swirled together and floated in an elusive ring through the air, mingling with the incense before fading to a place where there are no words, only the deep sense that something indiscernible has happened. What she said must haveContinue reading “Words “
Fore!
I thought that maybe if he could hear the urgency in my voice, it would somehow snap him into submission. I hoped that he might carry out at least a tiny detail of his morning routine. I should know better by now. But there is always hope; there must be. The eventuality of the lastContinue reading “Fore!”
Standing By
Somehow, I felt better sending the little chicken with Sam. He’s gone for three months, half a day away by airplane. He must be having the time of his life, and I will be here, home, where he no longer even lives, waiting for him. When Elliott was small, he spent a magical yearContinue reading “Standing By”
Shining like Nobody’s Business: Reflections on Turning Fifty
“I can tell you’re old, because I see all those veins on your head.” Ethan sat across from me at the picnic table in the shelter at Annie’s Woods, the park where we spent some time together on the late July evening that marked my fiftieth birthday. He did not offer time for my reactionContinue reading “Shining like Nobody’s Business: Reflections on Turning Fifty”
