Revising: Cutting Your Way to the Center
We’re nearing the end of the summer growing season in our garden. We’re still getting a few tomatoes, and a second planting of Blue Lake bush beans is still producing, albeit noticeably more slowly now. A few green peppers are hanging on. We’ve cleared out the first green bean planting, the Brussels sprouts, and a…
Read MoreContext and Association in the Essay
Cathy and I had a small serviceberry tree planted in our landscaping this summer. The tree, as is often the case, was just a tad crooked. Today, we finally got around to staking it with straps and ropes meant to straighten the trunk. In other words, we interrupted its natural growth to train it to…
Read MoreBlackberry Picking
When I was a child on our farm, I often went blackberry picking with my mother. She patiently taught me which berries to pick and which to leave to ripen. She gave me an empty pail that once held the government surplus syrup we got because of my grandmother’s blindness. She lived with us, and…
Read MoreWork
Today, Cathy and I sowed arugula, spinach, and turnips in our garden. As always, I thought of my parents and how they worked side by side when it came time to plant. My father marked off the rows with a one-wheeled cultivator; my mother dropped and covered the seed. I’d been the one to till…
Read MoreAnother School Year
In my first memory of school, I’m four, and I’ve gone with my mother to Claremont Grade School where she teaches. She’s come to ready her classroom for the start of a new year, and I’ve come along. The hallways smell of floor wax. The lights are off in the gymnasium, where I’ve come to…
Read MoreRight Place, Right Time, Wrong Person
Friday, Cathy and I had to make a stop at our local post office. Cathy pulled into a parking space as an elderly man in the space next to ours was getting out of his Cadillac. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and darker gray sweatpants. His walk was a shuffle. He had to take…
Read MoreRe-Entry
Cathy and I just got back from our week at the Vermont College of Fine Arts Postgraduate Writers’ Conference in Burlington, VT. Last year, due to cancelled flights, we had no choice but to drive from our home near Columbus, Ohio, to Burlington. This year, we decided we’d do it again. On the way out,…
Read MoreReunions: A Writing Prompt
It’s been a period of reunions for Cathy and me. Last weekend, Cathy’s side of the family gathered in our native southeastern Illinois. At breakfast, on the day we drove back to Ohio, a woman approached our table. She turned out to be the girl I dated in high school before I dated Cathy. Finally,…
Read MoreFor My Friend, Roy Bentley
Let’s be honest; sometimes we writers can be an insufferable bunch. We’re always talking about what’s gone well and what’s gone horribly wrong. We’re always currying someone’s favor. We can be boorish, loutish, whiny, and self-pitying. And all the while, our intention is to get someone to notice us and our work. We want your…
Read MoreThe In-Between
For some reason, I woke up this morning feeling particularly chipper. All morning, I’ve had the lyrics of the old Bing Crosby song, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” running through my head: You’ve got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive E-lim-i-nate the negative Latch on to the affirmative Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between It’s that Mr. In-Between that interests…
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