I wasn’t all that surprised to learn that the Hunger Games sequel is being filmed in Harris County, Georgia, and surrounding areas. The original was filmed in North Carolina. Harris County is just up the road a’piece from my hometown. I have several good friends who live there, and have spent quite a bit of time in the lovely towns of Hamilton and Pine Mountain (formerly Chipley). Regular readers of this blog will likely recognize the references to Pine Mountain... Read more
There are days when I think I might have been so much better off if I had never left the trailer park. Days when I am totally convinced that I am the only real human being on earth surrounded by aliens from a foreign land. Or maybe that’s the other way around, everybody else is human and I’m the alien from a foreign land. To be sure there were lessons I learned growing up among a trailer park community of young... Read more
What if – Obama was overheard saying: “If my dad had been born white, I’d have a better chance of winning this.” – Obama was overheard saying: “There are 47% who are with Mr. Romney, who are dependent upon trust funds, who believe that they are better than others, who believe the government has a responsibility to make exceptions for them, who believe that they are entitled to the best of health care, fine dining, and to palatial homes, to... Read more
A troubling dream woke Mama. “I was going into the hospital for something but I was crying because I didn’t know who would take care of my babies,” she said. “Your babies?” I asked. “Yeah,” Mama said. “I guess it must have been you, your brother and sister.” I didn’t say anything, just leaned up against the wall as Mama recounted the dream that awoke her. “I know it’s silly,” she said, shaking her head. “I guess you three don’t... Read more
“All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, Gabriel García Márquez: a Life If only. There was a time not so very long ago when Garcia Marquez’s quote was true, of course. But that was back when news was news and the only scandal was Elvis shaking his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show. But that was back when the notion of someone watching us 24-7 was purely the imagination of fiction writers like George Orwell: “It... Read more
I lost the car keys. I should have remembered all this from my days mothering four children. The more things/people you have to keep track of the more organized you need to be. There’s a drawer where we keep Mama’s car keys. She does not want to ride with anyone in their car to her appointments. She wants to go in her car, even if she can’t drive it. I didn’t put the keys back in the drawer. I’d set... Read more
Irony is the long-shadow of death. It is early morning yet. I have just administered my mother’s drugs. Something to slow the system. Something to move the system. A child of Appalachia, Mama spent sixty years sucking on the unlit end of a tobacco stick. Now she draws her breath from a gadget that resembles a plastic gun. A magic potion is poured in the spot where bullets would be dropped and a vaporized smoke appears out the barrel. When... Read more
So who does Pat Conroy read when he’s in the mood for a good story? Michael Morris. Conroy calls Morris one of his favorite Southern writers. Man in the Blue Moon, Morris’s latest, “is reason for great celebration –a beautifully wrought portrayal of small-town Southern life,” says Conroy. Publishers Weekly praises Man in the Blue Moon as the perfect book club read. It was Morris’s grandfather who first told the young boy about a man being shipped to town inside... Read more
We were sitting outside a drugstore. My sister-in-law was inside, picking up a couple of things. Mama sat quietly in the passenger seat. Reading isn’t the only thing she can’t do. Mama doesn’t drive either. Well, that’s if you discount the backseat driving she does. “Get in the HOV lane,” she tells me when we head north towards the hospital. “And step on it.” Mama always liked to drive fast and she likes anyone driving her to drive fast, too.... Read more
When his sister got married a couple of years ago, Stephan walked his Hero Mama grandmother down the flower-strewn path. As the first-born grandson he’s always had a special place in the hearts of all the grandparents. Back then he was employed at Colonial Williamsburg. Facial hair was not in style and long hair was. Now that’s he’s at Denali National Park, the facial hair is all the rage and the long hair, not so much. When I sent him... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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