Suprise Me

I’m 66, so why do I still have so many vivid memories of Kindergarten? I remember things like wetting my pants because I was too afraid to leave my seat without permission. I remember a couple sympathetic room mothers offering me a Halloween costume since my mom hadn’t arranged for one. Being proud, stubborn and… Read More

Once an art teacher had given our class a homework assignment to collect photos for a collage, including a baby picture. When I’d asked my mom for one, she’d told me my baby pictures had been lost in a flood; yet, here they are. Read More

At first 1979 would not seem to be a year of love and laughter, with its gas lines, stagflation, and odd fashions. But in a subliminal moment, a butterfly might alight, even on dried grass or trash, and its perfect wings might wink at you for an instant before it vanishes. That’s how I feel… Read More

Since time is an arbitrary construct, I advocate for staying on Daylight savings time going forward. Read More

They were experiencing a heat wave - it only got down to -30 degrees Celsius. Read More

Under no circumstances, Kodaly told our conductor, will you rehearse anything but my Te Deum between now and the performance. Read More

Susan B Coombs Jr. High School. Seventh Grade. Miss Davies. Homeroom. We were given a woodcut/Rorschach image to view, then write a poem. I don’t remember the poem. But Miss Davies told the class that we had a fine writer and poet in our class, then read my poem. My ears blazed. I felt like… Read More

I have down-to-there hair. It has almost always been shoulder length or longer. Once, as I was getting into my car, a guy driving by leaned out his window and shouted, “Don’t ever cut your hair!” It’s the first thing people notice about me and, if meeting me for the first time, almost always comment on. I… Read More

I have never personally experienced road rage. I tend to steer clear of drivers who seem to be in too much of a hurry, or are weaving in and out of traffic. I give them wide berth and get away as quickly as I can. Therefore, I will tell two stories from friends during my… Read More

Perhaps because he was the youngest of eight, raised by an older sister once his mother was institutionalized when he was 12, or maybe because he didn’t marry until he was 32; for whatever reason, my father liked to cook and was good at it. If we had Thanksgiving at home, he did all the… Read More