Hazardous Turnips: 5
The continuing story from Duck Dynasty country about a paper mill and the people caught in its hopper.
Orientation in Ruston with Shakespeare
I saw gangs of young people coming at me from every direction wearing blue shirts that said “Wear, Live, Think, Dream.” Luckily, they were friendly. One of the groups helped me to find the bathroom, which I sorely needed following my drive from Sterlington. I was there to attend a student play that was being […]
Mosquitoes Create Jobs
It’s been a year since I arrived in the northeastern portion of Louisiana, a wilderness and a wonderland to a northerner who has never lived south before. I’ve been introduced to crawfish or “mudbugs” and the proper way to eat them. This involves grasping the outside shell of the tail joint firmly with a thumb […]
Movie Review: Latest Trek
We are God’s Infidels driving to Pecanland Mall on Sunday morning (everyone’s in church) to see the new blockbuster, Star Trek into Darkness, purchase tickets, wait inside an abandoned food court, eerie as a Klingon vessel. Only a small group in brown plastic chairs, a couple whose two sons have anointed their crew-cuts, turquoise and […]
Afikomen in Sterlington, Louisiana
Daffodils sprouting in bright yellow bunches always have always signaled for me spring and Passover. Matzah plays a big role here, the unleavened bread symbolic of the Jewish exodus from enslavement in Egypt about 3,300 years ago. (“Hurry up, Sadie. We don’t have time for the bread to rise. Grab your hat and let’s go!”) […]
A Doll Goes Shopping at Walmart
For weeks, I had been reading up on Walmart, absorbing everything from Sam’s biography to reports about how the global chain was destroying labor guarantees put into place by the New Deal. I wanted to understand how Walmart had evolved from a variety store to an international behemoth hated and loved by all. Call it […]
Song for Guns & License
Paper mill town closed down. Sporting goods store the big draw. Hunters shop for camouflage, a new barrel gauge. Deer season. Six months here, I’m in a red chair with a red number, clutch a California driver’s license, my ID for forever. Insurance says I have to turn myself in, time to cheer for the […]
The Mustang
I’m on vacation from Chicago and visiting my girlfriend in Louisiana. Joy and I met in college. The plan is to drive to New Orleans the following weekend for the Jazz Festival. She let me borrow her car so I can pick up a few things for our trip. She says to watch out […]
On Eastlake Road Thinking About Marie Richard
I’ve passed through a rite of motherhood that has spanned some twenty years. No more deadlines, meetings, no project emails that must be answered. I’ve retired from the every day world to enter a different one. And with the gift of quiet has come clarity. What do I want to do now? I’ve always wanted […]
On Eastlake Road Thinking About Marie Richard
I’ve passed through a rite of motherhood that has spanned some twenty years. No more deadlines, meetings, no project emails that must be answered. I’ve retired from the every day world to enter a different one. And with the gift of quiet has come clarity. What do I want to do now? I’ve always wanted […]