Janet’s tagged me, kicking and screaming, forcing me to be sociable even in this most isolated medium. For which I’m grateful. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages). Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the next three sentences. Tag five people. Coincidentally, I happen to have just […]
Family Reunion By Maxine W. Kumin The week in August you come home, adult, professional, aloof, we roast and carve the fatted calf —in our case homegrown pig, the chine garlicked and crisped, the applesauce hand-pressed. Handpressed with greengage wine. Nothing is cost effective here. The peas, the beets, the lettuces handsown, are raised to […]
We flew to Omaha for New Year’s Eve, and took a taxi to the airport. It was Ian’s first cab ride; mine, too. It’s not that I don’t like talking to people. Well. Not only that. I never know what to say. Weather? We all have windows. Sports? I’m attending an organ concert during the […]
Her name was Julie. Slightly shorter but slightly older, hair in a pig-tail and a missing front-tooth. She didn’t need water wings. Ian was enthralled. Ian wouldn’t play with me when Julie was in the pool. It was half-hearted and he was distracted, looking over my shoulder to follow Julie’s trail of splashes to the […]
St. Louis reached seventy-three degrees last week. With temperatures like that, you spend as much time outside as possible, no matter how dark or looming the horizon. After work on Monday, we loaded Ian’s bicycle into the car and headed to Forest Park, there to bask in its fountainy goodness. One problem with our neighborhood […]
[An excerpt from Perfume, by Patrick Suskind, whose character’s opinions do not necessarily reflect those of mine. Except when Ian’s missed his nap.] ‘…but now he seems much younger to me; he looks as if he were three or four; looks just like one of those unapproachable, incomprehensible, willful littler prehuman creatures, who in their […]
You think Ian has an expressive face? One of the more beautiful moments of being a parent is watching your child discover that he can make you laugh.
I take Ian to school on Wednesdays, which means I work late to make up the difference. It took him a while to get there, but I think Ian misses me, too: ‘I’m OK, but I’m sorted. That means when you break the rules, you get really tired. And please do the stuff that you […]