I dreamed of my grandmother’s hands. It was an odd dream since Granny Leona has been dead a long time now. Even when she was alive, my days spent with her were few. I grew up in Georgia, a good day’s drive from where Granny lived in Church Hill, Tennessee. The town gets its name because it is just what it says it is – an Appalachian hill town with a church sitting upon its tallest spot. Granny Leona was a cripple woman.... Read more
The sermon wasn’t particularly in-depth. What is there to say on Psalm Sunday, other than Jesus gave his all. What will you give? Tim was gone all weekend at a Key Club Convention in Seattle, so I didn’t have to worry about fixing anyone dinner. I made a quick run to Starbucks for the mandatory iced coffee. I had a long afternoon planned, wrapping up edits on the upcoming NYT bestseller — Mother of Rain. (aren’t I ever the... Read more
She leans back in the recliner, her legs, dressed in powder blue slacks, stretch out long between us. Her white hair, short, Mary Martin in Peter Pan short. It is warm enough outside, sit by the river and read a book warm, but she has the heater on inside, cranked up so that upon first entering her place, it feels like all the oxygen has been sucked out. A woman ninety-seven has a hard time staying warm. Thin blood,... Read more
Barry Hannah used to say it was the glaring juxtapositions of the South that made it such fertile soil for writers. The rich. The poor. The black. The white. I think about what Barry said all the time. Juxtapositions abound. That has never been more obvious to me than as someone who teaches First Amendment Rights. How is it that the same nation and legal system that wrongly and grievously allowed for students at UC Davis to be wickedly... Read more
By Konnie Our day started off with us eating a quick breakfast of plantains, scrambled eggs, a mountain of bread with peanut butter and jelly (I refrained the whole week from indulging in bread due to gluten intolerance) and fresh pineapple which I got to enjoy much of during the week. After we got to the land rovers, packed with our supplies, we were off on our grand adventure. Our first stop was Philomath Secondary School and each... Read more
Editor’s Note: Konnie is home from Sierra Leone. She’ll be sharing some stories with us over the next few days. I hope you enjoy them. Sierra Leone by Konnie Sunday morning came early. I arrived at Portland’s airport at 5:20 a.m. to meet up with the rest of the Willamette Medical Mission team to embark on our 33-hour adventure to Sierra Leone. I’d heard stories of what to expect on our trip but I certainly could not comprehend or... Read more
We were driving through one of those neighborhoods that you can find in almost any city nowdays. You know the ones where the houses are squished up next to one another like dolls on a shelf, all lavishly dressed, all so very pretty but yet so very different. One house has a stone front. The one next to it is a brick colonial. One has a turret. Another has a wide porch. Nobody has a yard. Instead they have what... Read more
“You have raised a deplorable, shiftless, lazy son.” The man on the other end of the phone was yelling this at me. “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. ” He continued ranting. “I can see where he gets it. Uneducated people like you are ruining this country. All you do is watch TV and blame others for your problems. You know what? People get up every morning and still go to work but not you, not... Read more
My friends Tony and Kristen just had their first babies. Twin girls. And yes, they are darling. I wish I lived in South Carolina so I could babysit the girls. I miss having twins around the house. It was a lot of work. I mean a lot of work. But it was also a whole mess of fun, too. Our twins are identical twins. They have had their DNA tested for medical reasons and discovered that they are... Read more
I have made a new friend. She doesn’t know that we are friends, yet. This is my way of letting her know that I may or may not be stalking her. Okay. Not really. Truth is I don’t have time to stalk anybody, even if I wanted to, and in this case, I do so dearly want to. At the very least, I want to have coffee with her. But as she herself noted — why should any of... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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