In the dining room one-year-old Anne sat quietly in her mother’s arms listening to the song being sung to her. The minute Niki ended with, “B-I-N-G-O…and Bingo was his name OH!” Anne slithered off my daughter’s lap to the floor. She wandered into the kitchen where I stood by the sink washing the cabbage shredder. Continue reading
Archives
Everywhere a Turkey…
Driven by the wind, several brown, crisp leaves cartwheeled across the road in front of my car. They did a dance of ecstasy on the side of the road, and then dropped lifelessly into a clump of frost-deadened grass. A few hard pellets of sleet tappity-tapped on my windshield, and then seemingly disappeared into thin air. Had I imagined them? I pulled into the hospital parking lot and got out of my car. Continue reading
Dear Hunting
Bare-branched trees lined the river like tall gray sentinels. Huddled among them were pine trees wearing dark green winter coats. As if to mock the somber landscape, a bright sun smiled down on it with a friendly, golden hue that made frost-bleached grasses seem to glow. The view from my kitchen window made me want to forget about housework. Promising myself that I’d go for a walk after doing the dishes, I quickly began loading my dishwasher. Continue reading
Working at Play
At first my playmate and I were content to trample the weeds to form the halls and rooms of our imaginary house. Pointing to a tall skinny sapling growing closest to the gray weathered boards of the machine shed, I announced with imperial grandeur, “Between that tree and the shed is the little girl’s bedroom.” Continue reading
An Alarming Sound
I turned over and stretched, enjoying my soft, warm nest. Outside my comforter, the room was cold. Gray tendrils of sleep-induced mental fog obliterated all the concerns I had gone to bed with several hours earlier. Nothing in the world needed my attention at that moment and I felt supreme peace. Then I heard the eerie sound. Turning to give Arnie a shake I hissed, “Wake up and listen. I’m hearing it again!” Continue reading
Blood of a Rabbit
A cold, wicked October wind whistled around the eves of my house. I pulled on a sweater and poured myself a cup of tea. The wind… I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It had been the first thing I heard upon waking. As I lay in the gray dawn half-awake and half-asleep, my inventive mind formed the fanciful notion that it’s high pitched moan was the collective voice of all the women that lived before me. They seemed to be calling, “Clean…clean your house…clean your house now…winter is coming!” Continue reading
The Embalope…Please!
Dolls, and doll clothing pulled from the darkest corners of the closet covered the varnished hardwood bedroom floor. My sisters, Mary and Betty, sat in a circle among the fascinating litter with two cousins. One of my cousins had something I wanted…a small purse with a comb, handkerchief, and mirror in it. Continue reading
Beauty Queen
I stared into the monitor screen and read what I had spent the last three hours writing. Nodding approval I commented, “Good…I like that” Still looking at the screen, my fingers began to tap out more words. Only one more sentence and my article would be finished. The keyboard under my hands seemed to groan when I leaned on it during a pause in my typing. Continue reading
Empty Nest
The room looked small. Boxes were stacked here and there nilly-willy through out. Arnie turned to look at the pile of futon bunk-bed-parts leaning against the wall out in the hallway. Beyond the bed parts sat boxes containing Tammie’s various computer components. He shook his head in disbelief. Continue reading
Pack Rat Fever
Grabbing my green-handled broom, I began to wield it with quick, no-nonsense, perfunctory thrusts. The corn bristles flew across my kitchen linoleum. The speed of my movements made a dust bunny go airborne. Startled out of my preoccupation with planning what to do next, I stopped and watched the fluff of dust float back to the floor. Continue reading
Life Lines 