I brought her in the house to die, but she didn’t. Rosalina is one of my original twelve hens…actually eleven, because Wendell turned out to be a rooster. She has been quieter as she has aged, still maintaining her berth in the pecking order with an unspoken respect and reliably laying her pale green eggsContinue reading “Bumblefoot and Bread”
Category Archives: parenting
New Garbage
She remembered things differently from what I could recall. Seasoned in some ways, I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. Despite our proximity, there was a lot in the way. Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. –JoshuaContinue reading “New Garbage”
A Little Toast to Hope
Yesterday, I was having a good day, which really wouldn’t seem extraordinary except there just haven’t been a whole lot of them lately. A year ago, I had just lost 22 pounds. My hip didn’t hurt anymore, and I was a little closer to keeping up with the boys. All of the big kids wereContinue reading “A Little Toast to Hope”
I Like Your Pants
The elastic was stretched thin on the worn red cotton gingerbread-printed pajama pants. My second-hand find from years ago slipped dangerously low despite my bread-and-sugar belly. The chickens never seemed bothered by my fashion sense; they fluttered to greet me that morning as I delivered their feed. “I like your pants.” My little son’s wordsContinue reading “I Like Your Pants”
Aftermath: Burning Desires
At first glance, I wondered if it was just an enormous burn pile. My first memories place me under the tree in the yard of my early childhood home on Varano Drive in St. Louis, where I spent so many hours picking at the grass and digging in the dirt. I longed to go withContinue reading “Aftermath: Burning Desires”
Dearth
“Mom, why is your garden really empty right now?” The words of my five-year-old came from a place of curiosity. The corn stalks that had poked skyward for many months had been cut. Lemon cucumbers no longer hung along the fence posts like bright lamps strung for a party. He had noticed. He wondered: why?Continue reading “Dearth”
Strip Me Bare
Last year, they were probably heard screaming through to the second floor of the clinic, and there were fights…battles…battles that they did not win. No one did. A friend shared a link on social media yesterday, and I read every word, as often I do when this particular friend posts things. If she finds somethingContinue reading “Strip Me Bare”
re: Peaches
As we pulled up the long drive to my friend’s house, we were greeted enthusiastically by a little girl, the picture of sunshine, wielding a squirt gun and pulling the trigger as she announced that she was giving our car a wash which, indeed she was. We had come to buy a few jars ofContinue reading “re: Peaches”
Let Me Be Your Lesson
“Everything is either a blessing or a lesson.” Who was it that said that, anyway? Maybe, some things can be both of those at the same time. Perched on top of the hill at the edge of my grandparents’ property, my brother, my sister, and I spent strings of days looking out onto the St.Continue reading “Let Me Be Your Lesson”
A Chicken Gets Her Wings
Love, young love, I hope you are well. At least we now both Have a story to tell. —Keaton Henson, “Sarah Minor” I should have known by the way she spun in a circle as she moved among the pine shavings, even somersaulting as she crashed into the other chicks. Sometimes, she kept one eyeContinue reading “A Chicken Gets Her Wings”
