You are getting very sleepy … and when I snap my fingers, you will believe it is February 7, 2012 Today would have been the 100th birthday of my aunt and godmother, had she lived a few months longer. She spent her ninety-nine years, six months, and about two weeks in New Orleans—minus the […]
Also tagged aunts, godparents, me, Mom, New OrleansThe first week of the new year, I stopped into the local outfitters to check out some new trail boots. A knowledgable boot fitter helped me determine that it wasn’t so much a new boot I needed, but a better footbed. I knew she was right when she slipped a test pair of insoles into […]
Also tagged boots, hardheadOne March day in 2010, Mr. Lee woke up and began turning the dirt on a plot of earth that was once his father’s prized patch of grassy lawn. Adding dozens of shovelfuls of our friend Jerry’s magic manure, he produced two good-sized mounds of regenerated soil. The very next day we headed to Home […]
Also tagged manure, vegetable gardenBeing from New Orleans, where cemeteries are genuine tourist attractions, doesn’t make me appreciate our western variety any less. Our sometimes ornate gates and occasional elaborate headstones make up for the more plentiful slabs half buried in dead grass. Although each one represents a life lived, the chiseled facts are few. They were born and […]
Also tagged cemetery{ Archive: the following essay appeared in Java Magazine, and won Honorable Mention for Feature Writing at the Arizona Press Club in 2005 – Photos by Mr. Lee } In the master bedroom of our relatively contemporary home one might find the mosquito net hanging above the king-size bed out of place—decoratively speaking. Our bedding […]
Also tagged Arizona Press Club Winner, Java, Olive, scorpionsMr. Lee and I are celebrating our 33rd anniversary today. He just doesn’t know it yet. He’s still sleeping, the little darling. And while he slumbers, I’ve mapped out a plan for the day. First, I’ll make him a nice breakfast. He’ll surely wonder why. We’ll follow that with a trip to Method Coffee for […]
Also tagged anniversaries, Ian, Jerome, Kit CarsonNot long ago I was asked to choose a song for a very special dance. “It could be a Leonard Cohen song,” he said. I was just a kid when we first met. He was even younger—and, in every way, perfect. Over the years, I learned some things from him and, in the blink of an […]
Also tagged Jerome, Leonard CohenFor some inexplicable reason, cemeteries intrigue me. I’m not otherwise morbid but find it hard to pass one without wanting to drop in. Don’t get me wrong, I have no desire to be on the inside when they lock the gates for the night, but there is something fascinating about our dearly departed’s final resting […]
Also tagged cemetery, Little Miss Nobody{ Archive: the following essay appeared in Java Magazine, and won First Place for Feature Writing at the Arizona Press Club in 2005 – Photos by Mr. Lee } San Francisco is undoubtedly one of the nation’s most beautiful cities—a dream destination for many a traveler. So it was for us, the first trip in years […]
Also tagged Arizona Press Club Winner, brownies, Emergency Room, Haight-Ashbury, Java, San FranciscoI have three very good reasons to visit New York City (and two equally good ones to visit DC) at least once a year. If I’m extraordinarily lucky, I get there more than once. And every time I’m in Manhattan, I think about leaving—but just for the better part of a day. I want to […]
Also tagged Arthur Avenue, Little Italy