The Great Hall of Medieval Times is largely made of thick cardboard. The village shops are mini-vendors selling overpriced package add-ons and trinkets made in China. Costumed wenches and security guards in dark collared Polos attend to our drink and parking needs. The present doesn’t just peak out in the form of a microphone, fake wood paneling, or modern-day comfort
The Most Open House
About four blocks away from these typing brown fingers, there is a townhouse with swastikas inlaid into a custom hardwood floor border. I was not invited in, but I was in that house and I walked over the glossy unmistakable emblem that marked each corner of the empty living room with my own feet. The functional fireplace sagged between a
Ostrich Politics
Struisvogelpolitiek – Dutch, n. – Literally, “ostrich politics.” Acting like you don’t notice when something bad happens and continuing on regardless as you normally would. Lost in Translation, Ella Frances Sanders. Shake it off. Forgive and forget. Let bygones be bygones. Get over it. You can’t change the past. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Don’t cry over split
12 Rounds, 13 Miles
My first race was a 5K, during which I nearly strangled myself with my own scarf and tripped twice. Attempting a half marathon this month was remarkable because I shouldn’t have been able to finish it. On the other hand, the term “boxing match” was coined for the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Genneday “GGG” Golovkin fight, scheduled for the night
Monkey Business
I am among the humans at the zoo, the simplest-minded animals here because we believe we get to leave when we want.
Hug Free Zone
“You never hugged me, Mom.” “You’re a liar, Monica. I always hugged you and I wiped your butt too,” she defended herself. “How could you say I never hugged you?” That’s not how I mean it.
This Is How We Stay, Please Stay This Way
I am restless and nomadic, fidgety and vagarious. My sister is my float in this river that pushes me towards a bank or a wall. I rest on her. Each year, we take a sister trip, like our Hanna Sister Spectacular Summer S-cape (to Cairo) and alliteration-free sojourns to Anchorage and Antwerp, all the way out to Valparaíso and Zierikzee.
Fear Some
Step by step, I followed the chubby two-year-old legs up the loft ladder. Her father belayed her climb clutching her firmly, as we tested how far she’d go, how high up fear waited for her. She’d spent the better part of an hour circling back to the foot of the ladder to plant her black sparkly shoes on its first
This Happily Ever After
This week, my husband and I are celebrating ten years of marriage, a.k.a. “happily ever after.” This is the Picture-Story of whatever the hell that means. That was Then and This Is Now… Weddings are a very strange beginning. We’ve found that nothing about ours translated into real life:
The Shoe Always Fits
It isn’t girliness that draws me to shoes. I’ve had great shoe successes from the men’s department, though not many due to the conflict between my imp-sized feet and prideful refusal to be relegated to the boys’ department. But I do love shoes. I love them with all my being, just not for the reasons you suspect.