Poems, stories, and reflections
Three decades ago, I would have spurned Mr. Nimoy’s comment about “perfect moments.” I was in thrall to the existential belief that perfect moments do not exist. As humans, we constantly rewrite history. Our lens changes as we witness birth, life, death. My father’s death last September brought me to a garden of perfect moments. […]
MoreThe Daily Post prompt: “Dear Mom”—write a letter to your mom. I never thanked her for every role. Room Mother, Sports Mom, Carpool Queen, School Project Manager, Tutor, Laundress, Nurse, Homekeeper, Psychologist, Cheerleader, Baker, Mover, Shaker, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer + a lot of other stuff Thank you, Miss Bunny, from the bottom of my […]
MoreI, snow angel,
Fell from grace,
Slick-tripped
On ice-sheeted
Green moss rock.
The wind froze.
The camellia, the Deep South’s winter belle, freshly accents the dormant garden. Its Asian invasion long forgotten, the camellia japonica is Sweet Home Alabama’s beloved state flower. No matter how you drawl it, this flower is a cold-weather keeper. Speaking of pretty blooms and soon-to-be spring . . . now is the time to think of […]
MoreMy 94-year-old grandmother, Mama Hattie, died in January almost 20 years ago. She slipped away while astronauts stepped from the space shuttle, and the blizzard of the century blew through the East. The Pickens County Progress ran an obituary—read faithfully by neighbors in North Georgia. Her family and friends crowded in the Hinton Community United […]
MoreMy dad’s garden mania shot up when his children-sharecroppers (forced labor until their early teen years) scattered. He doubled the crop when the next-door neighbor gave him permission to plow through the lower end of their backyard. These events forced Dad to double his hours in the garden. My mother never commented, but she developed a blank stare […]
MoreCatching a man couldn’t begin too early in the South. Not that mamas coached their babies in helpless sighs, arch glances, and pretty pouts. Those charms came naturally—at least for a few girls who budded early, their hot-pink and lime-green dresses giving the dusty playground a lush look. Their hair, parted precisely in the middle, rippled long […]
More. . . and a thing called love. An old adage: “A southerner is never a stranger.” So true. Early in the New Year, I jumped on FB and posted a video demo of how to paint furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. A longtime friend commented that she had just painted a chest in […]
MoreA photographer who sees the world from every perspective. Wordless wonders!
MoreThe big stat showing up on New Year blog posts? “Only 8% of the population follows through on resolutions.” It’s ubiquitous, like blithe posts of Bland Business Beatitudes. BOR-ing. I’m sticking to basics. I can’t afford to hire the Merry Maids to dash through my house. No resolutions. Only modest proposals on this last day […]
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