It didn’t strike me until Ms. Christmas said, “I’m going to pick up our one kid from school.”“Can you believe it?” she asked. “We only have one kid!”I’m getting a little slow with age. A few ticks of the clock went by before I caught her meaning. We […]
The girl with the sticky fingers doesn’t know she holds a rare artifact beneath her thumb. Please don’t think she’s stupid for that. Her mother doesn’t know either. Neither would you, were it your hand holding me (or your jeans pocket, or change purse, or the little compartment […]
It’s time again for my annual birthday story. Writers sometimes talk of stories that write themselves. The older I get, the more elusive I find such stories to be. This one, however, did write itself. Channeling this tale brought me comfort; I hope it does the same for […]
The air is drenched with odors of chlorine and perspiration, seasoned with a tang of Sharpie marker. One such marker shuffles across the back of a cherub-faced girl two bleacher rows below me. The girl’s mother watches the scoreboard clock with one eye while minding her own […]
“Dad?” little Isaac says. A pair of ducks float lazily on the surface of the urban lake behind him. He embraces a half gallon jug of murky water, much of which has splashed onto his chest, soaking the front of his shirt, as he’s wrangled it for half […]
Here’s an idea that ought to twist your brain into a pretzel: in science, the present does not exist. When I first learned this, my first thought was of Charles Dickens. If he’d understood the only identifiable aspects of time are Past and Future, would he have cut […]
Do you suppose it’s possible to surprise God? I don’t mean in the way of sneaking up on him unexpectedly, or like everybody in the world might pile into a banquet room at the Outback Steakhouse and shout “Merry Christmas” as an unsuspecting God walks in – “Gee, […]
I learned yesterday it is possible to domesticate and train zebras. In fact, they can be made docile enough to trust them in close proximity to young children. Zebras are stunning animals to see up close. They are almost otherworldly, the way their black and white stripes display […]
A repost of another fave from several years ago. I think we all as humans wonder if it is all worth it. Here’s to realizing it is. Wake up late because my alarm died. Make breakfast for two boys who don’t eat a thing. Later I’ll be hungry […]
“I’ll tell you something about girls.” she said to me with a bountiful smile. She motioned with her work-chapped hands, “Girls are either up here in the attic, or they’re down in the basement. They are never in the middle.” Meanwhile, playful screams echoed, much of them originating […]
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