Month: February 2015

Every day

I see her

from behind the glass door

sitting in the cobweb-covered

camping chair

on the deck

she sits

alone 

smoke curls sensually 

from her nostrils and

rounded lips

every now and then

she taps her cigarette on her

flowerpot ashtray

knocking away the ash

Soon

the pot will be full

with the remnants

of her vice

Soon

she will come inside

and convince me

to drive away

with her

to another city

on another adventure

the air full

of burnt tobacco

and nicotine

I woke today to this face. Again. Too early for me.  But he’s getting older and needs to go out more often.

This is Pepper.  My family and I adopted him 12+ years ago.  I found him on the internet.  When my husband and son went to pick him up from the adoption place they did so with my instructions to not come home without him.  He had some behavioral issues.  We slowly worked through them although his separation anxiety remains an issue.  He was approximately 9 years old when my husband and I divorced.  When I moved from the family farm to a small apartment I chose to leave him there because I thought it might be cruel to move him from the only home he’d ever known.  He had room to run and play.  There were other animals there to interact with.  Instead, his anxiety issues grew worse…

…to feel the sand in our toes.

… to feel the glance of desire.

…to suffer the pain.

…to suffer hope.

…to see the green of the grass.

…to witness birth.

…to feel the wind.

…to return a smile.

…to taste greed.

…to know envy.

…to watch the weather.

…to hear.

…to grow.

…to be cold.

…to hate.

…to learn.

…to strive.

We are here to experience it all.

We are here to be a memory and a voice.

We are here to love.

We are here to participate.

We are here to stand witness before God and the Universe

My entry in the latest Micro Bookends contest. A story based on the photo below, between 90 – 110 words and the first word had to be General and the last word Theory. After witnessing a lot of my Twitter pals entering this competition week after week, I decided to give it a shot. And I’m pretty stoked to be awarded 2nd place on my first attempt there. Big thanks to Nancy Chenier for judging this week. Her comment about my story can be found at the bottom of this post.

photo by Thomas Leth-Olsen

General lethargy. A self-diagnosis procured through a Google search of “I’m in a hole.” A bit pedestrian if you ask me. Was hoping to score a plague of some sort. Bubonic or pneumonic.

She sat there gnawing the styrofoam on her cup of coffee. Others took their turn at revealing themselves; proud faces spilling…

The evening prior we laid in bed and arms

He took a stab at a joke, and asked me to marry him

Except I said yes, and he admits he had imagined

It would be a gooder.

I took stabs too, and said

“ let’s do it.”

For this moment:

One day it is possible

To get married in an Elvis Chapel

In Vegas, or Niagara

And to make a baby, too.

I want to do it

Name the sweet lamb Lovechild,

After the boat we’d sail away.

I’d make us coffee in the below deck percolator

In the cheap keepsake printed mugs

I saw us: the chosen ones;

beaming and immortal.

Forget about the Government Debt Ceiling Bill or MTV turning 30; I have an update on a dangerous epidemic sweeping the nation that’s going shamefully under-reported by the media: The Imodium Ad shortage of 2011.

I first shared my concerns here in June and my wife joked that maybe my mass Imodium consumption had caused a shortage of some sorts and it appears that might be the case. After striking out in my local stores, I branched out.  Three different CVS managers and a Wal-Mart employee plus an employee from a Pennsylvania supermarket have told me that there was a recall on Imodium AD, but I can’t find anything about a recall online, in the farmer’s almanac or with Ask Asa. I doubted them because I figured that of all people, I would know if there was a recall, it’s not like they wouldn’t publicize it or spread the…

I have a confession.  It’s a pretty well-guarded secret, but, hey…since you and I are friends now, I think I can trust you. Ok, here goes: I’m an introvert.

Photo credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/SMirC-shy.svg

This usually comes as a surprise to people who don’t know me very well, as well as those who know me too well. I’m a decent actress, and one of my greatest roles is “life of the party,” but I can only stay in character for short bursts of time.  Conversely, once we get to be really good friends, I won’t shut up, and you’ll forget how you couldn’t get me to say a word when we first met.

I just returned from ISTE, the biggest EdTech conference in the world.  This year, there was a record number of attendees…roughly 16,000 in one venue, and many more online (shoutout to the #notatiste crew).  It was totally overwhelming, but…