As a writer and a storyteller, it’s hard to admit that I don’t know how to begin. Something is missing. Not something practical like a pencil or keyboard. Not something existential like creativity. This isn’t writer’s block. The something missing is more like having moved to a new house that is almost exactly like your …
Experiences
Because, butterflies!
(Lots of photos in this post! Click the photos to enlarge!) Milkweed is an invasive plant, one that can grow to five feet tall and then releases its seeds in a late summer snowstorm of burst pods. They spread and their roots grow deep. I know this because I used to pull them out every …
Dystopia vs. Post-Apocalypse: I’m Still Here
Dystopia. Noun. 1: An imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. 2: Anti-Utopia. Apocalypse. Noun. 1: The complete final destruction of the world. 2: An event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale. My imagination has been for some time residing, happily, in one dystopia or post-apocalypse after another. …
Bad Medicine
Primum Non Nocere is Latin for ‘first do no harm,’ a guiding principle for physicians that, whatever the intervention or procedure, the patient’s well-being is the primary consideration.[i] That entire sentence above is reproduced in its entirety from the website referenced at the bottom. The composition is clear and concise, but I do see one …
Summer Soul
Six months past the Polar Vortex and a winter season spent, literally, under a blanket, I have a new found love for summer. The balmy breezes coming through the window screen, heavy with the fragrance of everything alive: sweet grass and milkweed blossoms, pungent boxwood, locust trees in bloom. With a little humidity making that …
Food (for thought)
I’ve always had a stomach of iron. Born and raised in Rochester, NY, I am a good native daughter, able to wash down a Nick Tahou’s Garbage Plate (red hots, please) with a Genesee Cream Ale. It’s been a while since I’ve ‘enjoyed’ that kind of meal, but my gut easily takes on spicy Asian …
Bringing Back Snail Mail
The postage rate for a first class one ounce stamp increased in late January to 49 cents. Because of the introduction of “Forever” stamps in 2007, people using US Mail no longer need to buy sheets of one cent stamps because that roll of 100 stamps they just bought at the prior rate are now …
Melanoma Winter: In Poetry
The past six weeks have been stressful and emotional. Two major surgeries in 2 1/2 weeks is also tough on the body. In total, I’ve endured two rounds of general anesthetic, two sets of stitches and/or staples, countless IV and syringe pokes, and almost three days admitted to the hospital. Four weeks ago, I was …