David Budbill wrote a short poem that can be found in his poetry book Happy Life. A Certain Slant of Light A certain slant of light this time of year says more than color in the hills or chill air that fall is here. My husband and I head north into town to vote early. On the way, I am struck by orange maples, red sumac, yellow hickories. I mention them as we go. God is behind everything we see, of course. Now and then, I ask my husband if he’d please drive slow or stop. I am

My earliest teachers: my mama and my daddy, Grandma Guffey, Aunt Effie, Aunt Mary Ellen, siblings, too—my older brother, for sure. We grew up with rules. Unwritten, of course. But if you were told three times, it became a rule in my house, written or not. No sass-back. Chores, of course. No matter how my mama and daddy talked, acted, reacted, I learned from watching and listening. They were my first teachers, whether they thought I was listening or not. Some lessons had to be

I’m a big picture person. Not a detail person. It’s a gift and a curse. Names, technology, science, systems elude me. But when it comes to relationships, history, literature, I seem to get by right well. This didn’t start as an adult. I think God made me this way in the beginning. It showed up in elementary school. I thought maybe I was bored or slow. Whatever, it’s still with me, especially when it’s mathematical. I worked hard “to get it” in geometry class, but it wouldn’t

When I was a kid, my heroes were Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Superman, Mighty Mouse. They were the good guys in movies, cartoons, comic books. My heroes were outstanding in some way: they were smart, two flew, all lived according to the law, they helped other people. In fact, they helped at the risk of getting hurt themselves. Being young and human, I couldn’t do what Dale Evans or Superman did. However, I knew right from wrong and could identify injustices. Did I tak