I don’t like to give my money to the rich. Sitting at a mall, I watch people with their pretty shopping bags and hundreds of dollars worth of purchases and I cringe. I am certain that ultimately, those dollars are going to people that live in very big houses and drive pretty fancy cars on …
It all happened so fast, so I’m not quite sure why I recall it in slow motion. My boys were fooling around and laughing. They rarely play together so I relish these times. I was standing by the kitchen about to open the fridge. James, moving at his usual 300mph dashed by the kitchen counter and grabbed an orange then flew …
My friend Faith sent me an email with a sweet story about a man who returned home for a neighbors funeral. The neighbor had greatly influenced the young man’s life in the absence of his father. Towards the end of the story was the statement: “every night someone thinks of you before they go so …
Careful now! I cautiously stick my big toe into the shower to test the temperature. Too cold. I jerk my faithful harbinger out and turn the knob counterclockwise ever so slightly. The second testing proves only tepid. I turn it up again and inch my way into the stall, I unwittingly touch the cold wall and breathe …
I belong to the Kikuyu tribe which is notorious for many things. Among it’s highlights is what Kenyans used to call shrubbing. Shrubbing is taking English words and Kikuyunizing them (or converting them so they contain distinct traits of a tribal language.) It is no fault of mine that I frequently say “clazy”. It’s one of …
My sweet Paul was very articulate at a young age. When he was three, Nana took him to her house for a weekend. He loved her cabin in the woods and came home full of stories of his imaginary friend, Ima McGack. He also had frequent encounters with his pet zebra and the zebra’s dolphin …
So yellow the yellowness So black the polka dots So green the mowed lawn One beetle per blossom Each six bright spots. I was struck by the sunny dandelions in the lawn and stooped to admire their delicate unfurling petals. Nestled in the first one was a pretty ladybug. I looked at another, and another, and each one …
My mother raised five girls, God love her. Towards the end of her life, all five of us snollygosters were regularly cracking up at her fashion sense. An ounce of wisdom shared among us would have warned that things were falling apart and that our lives were about to unravel with the ending of hers. But no, …
Let’s cut the scut, Say goodbye hoi polloi And head for a favorite spot out south Where I gambol on weekends With some folks I love. It is quite a schlep but it’s worth every mile. And the sight of the Santiam makes my soul smile. There we doss, and we nosh, And we prate funny tosh. …
I am notorious for making up words. I understand that there are more than enough words around but there are times when existing ones just don’t cut it. Take “terribility” for instance. That’s a spectacular word and it needs to be in circulation among smart people. It is a terribility that that word is not …