Wet socks Wet toes Tangled hair Muddy shoes Bad coffee Drizzle Rain Gritty eyes Happy son. First of all, let me just say that teachers are saints. If you have a child, or even if you don’t, I’d like you to please take a moment to silently applaud the teachers who are taking care of … Continue reading Chaperoning the fourth grade field trip to Jamestown, Virginia
Portraiture is possibly my favorite form of photography. Faces show character in every laugh line, every weathered wrinkle, in tan lines left by always-worn sunglasses, in the trickle of sweat through trail dust. In the scraggly beards of men who have walked the woods for weeks. On our drive through Catawba valley, my husband said, … Continue reading A journalist I am not (R)
On February 1, 2014, my husband had an itch to hike the woods around Pandapas Pond. It was a sunny, 50 degree Saturday after two weeks of sub-freezing temperatures, and we had seen pictures in the paper of folks skating and ice fishing on the pond. I asked if the kids and I could ride along. … Continue reading Walking on ice: a story in three pictures
One of my favorite things about winter in the Appalachians is the juxtaposition of green against white. Whether moss, lichen, rhododendron, or fern, there is something hopeful about green vegetation pushed up against a fresh white snow. It reminds me of the persistence of life, despite harsh conditions. I also love winter in Appalachia for … Continue reading Nature as ice sculptor
The grown-ups stood at the front window sipping spiked coffee and doctored hot cocoa. Our entertainment that day was watching Ed, the mail man, bend into the blizzard as he trudged through thigh deep snow to get to our across-the-street neighbor’s wall-mounted mailbox. All the kids entertained themselves by – well, I don’t remember how … Continue reading The perils of winter birthdays
“November was here, and it frightened her because she knew what it brought – cold upon the valley like a coming death, glacial wind through the cracks between the cabin logs.” – Eowyn Ivey, The Snow Child When we left Florida on November 1, 2009 to make the drive north to Minnesota, our station wagon … Continue reading It was November, and I was afraid
