Miss Inez English lived on Pine Street, right around the corner from our house on 9th in my little rural Texas town. Her one-story wooden house, white with green shutters, was set far back from the road, and was obscured by a front and back lawn covered with overgrown bushes and low-hanging trees, which cast…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
A Few Favorite Books and A Wish
I have started re-reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker and I am reminded why it held the distinction for a very long time of being my favorite book. “Dear God,” the book starts and is written all the way through in a series of short letters with such a powerful and distinctive voice that…
Flash Memoir: An Afternoon with Mr. Morgan
Mr. Morgan was a retired Episcopal priest who lived a few houses up from my family on East 9th Street in my hometown of Bonham, Texas. He and his wife, Anna, must have been in their 70’s when I was young. They both had white hair, and they walked with the stoop that comes with…
Flash Essay: A TV Series Worth Watching
I would like to highly recommend the new HBO series The Newsroom. The acting is first-rate, the dialogue real and strong, and the story lines compelling. I would not be surprised if a whole crop of young people are inspired to head off to journalism school as a result of this series. Not only does…
Flash Essay: When Inspiration Isn’t Coming
I am struggling to come up with something to write tonight. My mind is blank. I have had several false starts already, meaning I’ve picked a topic, written half a page, then deleted the whole paragraph. I don’t usually do that, but tonight appears to be one of those nights, where all ideas seem not…
Flash Essay: Back in LA after Two Productive Work Days
We’re back in LA after a productive, but hot couple of days in Ojai. We are well on our way to getting organized up there; our plan is to return next week and spend two more days working. Ray has already gone to bed (he went up at 9), the dogs are both sacked out…
The Orange Grove, the Dogs, and Ray’s Studebaker Truck
Today was the first time we have seen our little foster dog, Sammie, truly happy. She was running down Ventura beach, light on her feet, barking with excitement, playing with a German Shepherd and “sister” Cordelia. And Cordie is so happy to have this litte friend. She is calmer with Sammie’s presence, less barky and…
The Orange Grove, the Dogs, and Ray’s Studebaker Truck
Today was the first time we have seen our little foster dog, Sammie, truly happy. She was running down Ventura beach, light on her feet, barking with excitement, playing with a German Shepherd and “sister” Cordelia. And Cordie is so happy to have this litte friend. She is calmer with Sammie’s presence, less barky and…
Enroute to Ojai, CA via the Pacific Coast Highway
Ray and I are heading up to our orange grove in Ojai for a few days. That means tent camping and no electricity. Still, we will be connected thanks to the internet. We are continuing our “organization” summer by going up to Ojai to dig into our storage bins there. We are going to pull…
Flash Essay: The Consequences of being “Nice”
When I was growing up, there was an admonition: “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.” This came mainly from my father, who arguably was an extremely decent person, and one who followed his own advice. I don’t recall him ever talking badly about anyone. My mother had her own…
20 Minutes a Day 