Prologue: As of this writing, 2.65 million people worldwide have died of Covid-19. Deaths in the United States number more than half a million. There are millions more who survived the virus. And millions more who have lost everything, but their life, to the shutdown. If you’re fortunate enough to be reading this, as I’m …
Experiences
The things I try to find the thing I want to do.
Confessions on a Dance Floor
I am not a good dancer. That doesn’t stop me from tearing it up in the kitchen to my 80s music mix. I used to dance a lot more, and in public; despite my introvert persona, I rarely missed a school dance as a teenager. Music has always moved me, literally. During college years ago, …
Swans and Ducklings: A Story of Self-Image
Not long ago I came across an old driver’s license issued to me in 2000, when I was 27 years old. Driver license photos do not tend to be the most flattering likeness of a person, but as I peer at a seventeen-years-younger me through the reader-portion of my progressive lenses, I think to myself, “Huh. …
Summit Thoughts
I am not below ground. I am far up above in the sky, on a peak of rock. On the peak of me. Getting here was not guaranteed. Climbing over rocks and logs, feet moving over loose stone, knotty roots, and slick pine needles. A push from behind is needed to surmount a sizeable boulder. …
Cancer: A Retrospective
This post has been a long time coming. At this writing, it has been a little over two years and nine months since I was first diagnosed with melanoma. Treatment involved: ~ 2 general anesthetic surgeries within 2 weeks of each other. The first a procedure to remove a crescent of my ear, put the …
Racism in Black and White
“What? WHAT THE F*CK?!” This is not a good way to start the day. Shuffling into the kitchen, putting on the kettle, flipping on the morning news—this is routine. The news flickers on and the announcer prefaces an upcoming clip about an officer-related fatal shooting of a black man. This is becoming routine. A horrifying, …
You Got the Music in You
The husband and I own a lot of music. Our combined CD collection exceeds 400 albums, and about 15 years ago he acquired an obscene amount of ‘shared’ music from a C-shift lab computer at work. Our digital catalog now numbers around 5,000 songs; two MP3 players are dedicated mixes for both the 1980s and …
Sticky Stories: Notes from a Trade Show
One week ago today, I stretched way out of my comfort zone by participating as a vendor at the annual Women of Focus Trade Show. The one day event was the culmination of four months of expending time and money to prepare for my first big trade show. Why would a writer exhibit at a …
