Gift of food

Gift of food

I’ve been thinking a lot about Karl. When I was 16, my dad left. I knew what many adolescents know about their parents’ relationship: next to nothing. What was clear is that my mother felt blindsided. For what seemed like weeks, she wept behind closed doors. The house...
Life wins

Life wins

It’s hard to get around these days without stumbling into a march. The Women’s March on Washington spun off hundreds of “sister” marches around the world, including in several North Carolina cities. On Feb. 11, the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) march, led...
A noble tree

A noble tree

It’s not often that Twitter gives me an idea to explore. That the idea came from a stranger dripping snark is also, let’s say, unusual. But here we are, 2017. Twitter is our funhouse mirror, with its improbable orange frame. Hate it, avoid it or obsessively read –...

I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately. Granted, I’ve had more time than usual to think. That 3 a.m. wake-up call, wherever it’s coming from, has been pretty constant since Nov. 8. The radiator ticks, the cat snores. The willow oak leaves rustle. And I wonder how...
Waiting for Matthew

Waiting for Matthew

As I prepared for Hurricane Matthew’s arrival, I took a little time to reread E.B. White’s classic “The Eye of Edna.” Published in The New Yorker, White describes how he follows the track of Hurricane Edna as the storm moves up the east coast in 1954. This was well...