
The Old Man and a Shoe
In the heady, post-war days in the spring of 1948, he was a three-year-old hero, a superstar before the term was coined, his name in the headlines everywhere and on the lips of the lucky punters who picked him in the Kentucky Derby and cashed…

Grump Days
The morning sunlight of early spring beams through the window blinds and onto the table next to where I’m sitting, spraying dapples onto my coffee cup and the oddly shaped little potted plant next to it. I’m uncertain how long I’ve been…

Just Five Words
Why do siblings fight?
Why does the moon orbit the earth? Why do cats dominate dogs? Why do Kentucky basketball fans loathe the Duke Blue Devils so bitterly?*
Some things represent forces of nature, beyond the influence of humble beings…

Maybelle Goes Sale-ing
Today's installment of the Chronicles is offered as a special tribute to G-ma's longtime friend, Amy-Lyles Wilson, in honor of a recent landmark birthday. G-ma has been fortunate enough for many years to participate in Pilgrim Writers, a collaborative…

Watch This
Our fall break adventure was so lovely, but it was ending. Time to go home. There were so many memories packed into just a couple of sunny days—a crackling campfire with sausages roasting, boat rides in a wind so vigorous that the lake’s…

In the Mind of a Kid
In the course of everyday family life involving school-aged children, schedule demands often dictate the shape and form of interaction. Conversation may feel less like an in-depth news interview and more like a quick declaration aimed at a…

The New Neighborly
There were many reasons, some of them deeply understood by those who honored the restrictions of the COVID era but squirmed with restless desire for change. Whatever those reasons were, the day arrived some months back when the face looking…

After the Longest Year
He raised his long, gangly arms instinctively, then dropped them again, uncertain. The study in his light blue eyes was tentative, watchful, hopeful, but unsure.
I looked right into them, longing to restore his comfort, trying to beam away…

We Are What We Are (and Ain’t What We Ain’t)
When I was a child my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn.
And Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg…