Journeys from the known to the unknown
Upstairs, down and up the big hill behind our house, a quick trip to the local one-person post office, and a bit longer drive to the service window to get a mini Blizzard when it is just too hard to stay confined a second longer. No expensive airplane tickets, no souvenir shopping, hotel rooms or …
We sat together for a Mother’s Day cookout, my hamburger lay cooling on the platter. I like my meat rare and hot, they like theirs well done. My son in law takes mine off the grill first so that it does not overcook and so as in the past, I smile because a cold burger …
If anyone thought that Washington (either side) was working on behalf of the nation, just take a look at the aftermath of Pennsylvania Senator Morino’s withdrawal as the nominee for drug czar. “Nobody knew, they fooled us. I don’t know who contributes to my campaigns,” he stated in his defense. Democrats and Republicans. Shame! It’s …
“Needing a time-out from marriage and my career, a do-over, I had volunteered for the United Nations mission. Actually, it wasn't a new idea. In the heady days of my youth, I had been accepted to the Peace Corps after college and assigned to go to Afghanistan but chose, instead, to marry my boyfriend to …
Patriotism is a two-sided blade. Positive patriotism promotes national unity, cohesion, and pride. Negative patriotism causes xenophobia, squashes dissent, and reduces innovation. Let’s imagine for a moment that President Trump's speech in Arkansas in September, 2017 went something like this: “I’ve been troubled by watching football players take the knee during the pre-game playing of …
I slapped my empty suitcase onto the bed and looked at my best friend, Marilyn. "What the hell do I pack for a year? Seriously, what have I gotten myself into this time?" Marilyn frowned, slowly shaking her head. “Couldn’t you take the geographical cure somewhere more civilized?” The muscles in my face tightened. “Not …
Years ago I sent out—mostly via US mail, but by e-mail to those few of us who had it—a monthly letter addressed to “Dear Martha White.” Martha White was not anyone’s real name. She was just a photo on a white sack of white flour, a symbol of good white stuff! And for me, she …
Presidents Trump’s travel bans, his rescinding of former president Obama’s executive order protecting the Dreamers, and promoting the imposition of fees on money sent to Mexican families by persons in the US all speak to his xenophobia or, perhaps more cynically, his attempts to appeal to his “base.” In the story titled “Roaches,” I explore …
