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 in. He thundered into history that June at Belmont Park […]
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 sitting there, staring at the plant, my book ignored in my lap. One […]
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 like parents or grandparents. Right, or not? Buddy turns 11 this week, and Sis will […]
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 writing group guided by Amy-Lyles under the principles of the Amherst Writers & Artists. In 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 bristling whitecaps rocked us around, determining our course. In a few rounds […]
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 passenger who has just leapt on a departing subway. The chance to say “have a seat and […]
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 back at me in the mirror piped up and said: It’s time to move on. […]
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 the weight of so many months of uncertainty. Long, dry, confusing, lonely, frightening months. The last […]
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 County Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I’m […]
It’s been such a long road. Right? For a year we’ve struggled to hold it together in a world we hardly recognize, some days. Then, Mother Nature cackles hysterically as she adds on her own cosmic cataclysm: The Polar Vortex. Who ever heard of such? Enough, already. If you are like me, you may think […]