Left Turn on Red

Are there some things we shouldn't talk about in a marriage? Martin leaned forward, a little out of plumb, wavering slightly. “Can I say something, judge?” The traffic court judge leaned her chin on her hand, offering the slight nod and indulgent smile she might have bestowed on her favorite uncle. “Look, your honor,” he …

Ann Pattchett’s Bookstore

Ann Pattchett’s Bookstore asks, ‘why write?’ when there are so many great writers out there It’s in Nashville. Ann Patchett’s bookstore. And as if there isn’t enough music on every corner and bar to grab you by the ears, inside the bookstore there is a recital in progress with a series of singers performing their …

Beach Start

There have to be safer ways to cope with a lay-off Mack sat on the sand thirty yards away from the rest of the members on their private beach. They all seemed content to lounge under carnival striped umbrellas, their warm, dry toes just out of reach of the five-foot waves rolling off Lake Michigan. …

Am I Watched?

a short sketch about family imprinting As I waited for the light to change, a pickup pulled up next to me. A five-year old boy popped up over the passenger side window sill. He had surprised me and he knew it. I grinned back just before he ducked down and I was left to watch …

Twitter Tourettes

When dementia can help...sort of My next-door neighbor, Ethel, lives with her elderly sister. Come to think of it, Ethel’s not so young herself. “Mandy,” she said over the phone. “Could you come over to stay with Cheryl for an hour…two at the most? I need to get an oil change and run some errands. …

Why We Need Stories

Recently I heard that the Bushmen of the Kalahari spend a mere fifteen hours a week gathering food. The rest of the time they tell stories and interact. That sounds like fun—a kind of early retirement for the whole tribe. More to the point, I wondered how a people could spend so much time telling …

Uncle Duane…cut to black

A bachelor uncle reaches out of the past “James…” “What Mom? Something bad?” “My brother Duane died.” I could hear her breathing over the phone. Actually, you could most always hear her breathing…her COPD. But this time it was more rapid than usual. She was not very close to her brother. But still at their …