For hours after supper, my brothers and sisters and I played in the front yard. The side yard was for hanging clothes. The back yard, for watching the sun set beyond tall grasses. When darkness came, we’d go inside to play cards and take baths. It was a ritual. Our house was our universe. I guess we were like planets spinning around. Of course, we had no way of knowing what would happen in the future to any of us. My big brother was a teenager and worked on his bike like a me

I have a little plan I usually follow. First, I pray for anyone who comes to mind. Then I try to fall back asleep. If that does not work within a few minutes, I turn on the light, pick up a poetry anthology, and read for a few minutes. What I love about reading poetry at 3 a.m. is that I can get an entirely new image in my head. It becomes a distraction from not sleeping. Here are a few poems I love. So many to choose from! (I prefer fairly short, uncomplicated, non-disturbin

I talked with my husband on the porch in front of the elephant ears. “Jimmy, who was your first grade teacher?” I asked. “Mrs. Davis.” “Mine was Mrs. Fry.” “So what was Mrs. Davis like?” I asked. “Oh, she was tall and pretty. She never made fun of us if we did something stupid. We did stupid stuff all the time. She was gentle when she had to comb my curly hair. Sweet smelling. She was sweet smelling and did not smell like cigarettes.” “Mrs. Fry was gray-haired and kind,” I sa

Summer heat waves added stress and strain to our corner of the world this August. I often scanned a cloudless sky. Usually, no moisture in sight. Yet, on the river, a marvelous thing. Fishermen were not drought-watching, they were trout-watching. Even inside the city limits of Norfork, our small town, I saw three people painting fish in a mural, changing the face of one of our streets. I immediately approved and pulled out my camera/phone. No need to add a dance or sweetness