Recently, I was dining with a dear friend (and former colleague) who has not yet retired. She was regaling me with school tales…many of which are continuing sagas from drama that was occurring when I was still working almost 15 months ago. While recounting her tale, she mistakenly (having just swallowed a bite of apple…
I’m a coffee drinker; but the idea of a full British tea is so appealing to me today that I find myself daydreaming of cucumber sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and delicate china teacups. This morning, I Googled “authentic British tea near me.” Since I live in central Kentucky, the results were minimal as one might…
My best friend, Amy, and I recently discovered the Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. We’re obsessed. I recommended the series to Amy based on a book tuber’s review. At the time, I was reading This Story Might Save Your Life (by Tiffany Crum) so I couldn’t start the Unselected Journals at…
This past weekend, my best friend and I took time to get away for the night and visit the Ohio Valley Antique Mall. Here’s what we discovered. melamine plates and stoneware bowls wooden stools and furry-haired Trolls Christmas ornaments from long-ago trees mounted antlers and skeleton keys vintage Barbies old bird cages antique books with…
Though I grew up in Appalachia I did not grow up near woods. The only patch of wooded land in walking distance belonged to Winston Oliver, or so he led me to believe. A 13-year-old entrepreneur, Winston told me I looked like a girl who appreciated nature. I was nine at the time. For 50…
Years ago, my husband planted panicle hydrangeas behind the house. Today, they stoop… in a lovely, heavy-headed group like tall girls at a middle school party who have yet to realize their beauty, shrinking themselves to fit the norm; but one stalk stands tall, poking her yellow-white head through the weathered slats on the deck…
Little shadow, loyal friend. Your dog-kindness soothed years of human hurts. Your nearness through dark, sleepless nights…us under the moon. Thank you.
Family pet, circa 1980: My dad rescued a dog once, not from the pound, from Main Street. It was back when Dad and Uncle Ronnie owned a full-service gas station. One warm morning, a Winnebago rode up to the pumps, driving right over the rubber hose that triggered the service bell. Dad came out from…
Family pet, circa 1979: Our gray cat, Tiny, (who weighed well over 15 lbs) decided one day he hated everyone who wore blue jeans; so he hid behind the hedges and leapt out aggressively when neighbors walked by in their Levis. He climbed up their pants legs, biting their outseams (and sometimes a thigh), digging…
My husband and I returned last week from a 10-day beach vacation. We drove my car, Cozy. It was her first trip to the beach. I argued that we should take my husband’s vehicle. It was larger, more room for all our luggage. It was more experienced, having already taken a beach trip the summer…