What are you looking forward to? I've had a hard time thinking of a topic that isn't gloomy, but I don't want to focus on gloom today. The Christmas lights are on. This year our tree is made of books, which are themselves made out of trees, so we're not far from tradition. Putting a …
I found myself sitting in the darkness of an abandoned church looking up at the moon alongside a best friend. The last month of the year has spilled out before us. We are tired but glad to be together in the magic quiet of a place we aren't supposed to be. When you look back …
Things are changing in our house. (Though life is change, so when are things not changing?) I'll be starting my second job (losing time I've spent writing and making things) and our teen has started college. Then there are the outside forces, the Delta variant and the changes to our climate and whatever-in-the-all-the-levels-of-hell our rage-filled, …
I love StoryaDay. Often when I post about it, someone tells me why they can't do it. And there are many valid reasons for not taking part. Nothing is for everyone. (Well, air. That's generally for everyone.) So my love of it and participation in it is not me knocking on your door like a …
A home that caught my eye in Salem. Definitely not the house I grew up in. In grad school, I had a final exam with a one word question. We had to write about this one word. (For the life of me, I can't remember how much time were were given, but it was at …
I love the lake. The lake doesn't love me. Dad bought his house on the lake before I was born. The lake lives in my earliest memories. In childhood, dad would make me volcanoes in the beach sand. We had our best conversations on the dock. As a teen, I sat on the dock to …
I was planning to write about the winter storm here in Texas, the surprise of being without electricity or heat from 2am Monday to 1am thereabouts Thursday. We didn't lose water, thank goodness, but plenty of my friends and students did. Some people are still without water. Aside from the love, dogs provide heat! We …
(where I grew up ~ starlight added) It's the most contemplative time of year. (Well, not for everyone. Plenty of people may find other points in time more suited for contemplation. Some people seem to have no ability to contemplate much of anything least of all their place in the world and the hardships of …
I was going to write something completely different, but I've forgotten what. As some know, my mother died of an aortic aneurysm when she was 45 and I was 21. In early November, someone I grew up calling Aunt (but who is not genetically related) almost died of an aortic aneurysm. Thankfully, she is recovering. …
I don't remember what I was thinking when my mom took this photograph of me. Probably something along the lines of "I hope this is the pose Mom wants." She took her photography very seriously and I was pleased and terrified when she wanted to take photos of me in my ballet costume. I was …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 