Last summer I found myself standing stock-still with my kids in an algae-covered pond, which looked and smelled more like a cess pool.We were hunting. My boy was in frog camp; they had been here earlier in the week and he had caught six. I found this impossible to believe; we'd been standing here for … Continue reading Weird Human Behavior #4: Catching Frogs
Category: memoir
How Harry Potter killed my teaching career
I knew I was done last fall when I faced my seminar class of sixteen freshmen and felt I was staring at circle of aliens. The feeling grew during an oral presentations (no longer called speeches): a musical power point. I didn't recognize a single song except "Henry the Octopus" by the Wiggles. In spite … Continue reading How Harry Potter killed my teaching career
The Soul of the Haunted House
Some English teacher somewhere along the line taught me that in literature, the house is a symbol for the soul. I'd take credit, except that each time I remember this equation, it's got a vague citation hovering around it. And it always comes to me when we visit my in-laws on the east coast. We … Continue reading The Soul of the Haunted House
To All Daughters
who think they're not good enough, or think they ought to be prettier or more compassionate or at least thinner. To those who feel they don't feel enough for their families, especially their mothers. In fact, to all daughters who have troubled, complex, maybe even unfriendly relationships with their mothers, near or distant, and because … Continue reading To All Daughters
Book Air
There are days that are dominated by memory. Some specific, some sporadic, a smell maybe, a song, an old picture and wham, you're not just remembering, you are there again. I mean, a secret door has opened and there you stand at fourteen. Time splits. You're the you you are now, stunned that you are … Continue reading Book Air
The Myth of Home Improvement
A decade ago it was fun to decide to redo the floors of our newly purchased, old house. A week later, knee deep in crow bars, piss-stained carpet, damp foam padding, and nasty linoleum, I changed my mind. Forever. This is one of those things, like writing a book, that in fantasy seems like it’s … Continue reading The Myth of Home Improvement