I wanted to go to the adoration chapel. I’d been running errands downtown. I had to go to the bank and to print some things off at the library. There was a huge sale on Gatorade and I was excited to bring a few bottles to The Friendship Room— the guests struggle to keep hydrated on ninety-degree days like this one. But that meant running to catch the other bus, at the stop three blocks away, so I’d get dropped off right... Read more
The praying mantis on my hat was the fun part of the day. And I, true to form, barely appreciated it. I had just come several hundred feet uphill through the woods. There is an old staircase there, that many years ago the city put in for the general benefit of everyone – because of it, you can walk downtown and back up without needing to go around the cliffs. Apparently there used to be one or two more of... Read more
We're going to answer an age-old question which has been all over the news lately: When is it okay to tell a woman "you're in such good shape"? Read more
Last night, our president, TV’s Donald Trump, was asked if his proposal of a “Solar wall” on the Mexican border was a joke. Here’s his answer, as reported by Jonathan Karl and The Hill. No, not joking, no. There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that. Look, there’s no better place for solar than the Mexico border– the southern border. And there is a very good chance we could... Read more
I happened to notice this in my newsfeed today; please take a look when you get five minutes: Oh, I know how that feels. We’re still poor and probably always will be, but in some ways that’s hard for me to remember because it used to be so much worse. After Rose was born, we were broke indeed. We gave our last three hundred bucks to that con artist fake midwife because she was threatening us, and then we... Read more
There are stories that only improve with age. And then there’s Watty Piper’s 1930 fable, The Little Engine that Could. I used to love that story when I was a little girl. Somehow I haven’t read it to Rosie yet. I was surprised when a friend mentioned that he found the whole story Calvinistic and grim. I went to read it; fortunately, the whole thing is available online. I found that my friend was not only correct, but understating the... Read more
It’s that time of year again– the corn is thigh-high, or would be if I’d planted corn this year. The air is steamy. I’m less ill from the heat than you’d expect, and I have to ask my readers for a favor so I can stay that way. Michael and I receive a small check from Patheos, but at this stage of the game our primary income is blog tips; several of you have been extremely generous thus far, you know... Read more
Sometimes I see something online that leaves me puzzled the whole rest of the day. Today, it was a photograph of a poster that was hung in a church foyer; at the top were those oddly sentimental line drawings of effeminate angels bowing their heads to a monstrance emblazoned with the words ADORATION REPARATION. I don’t know why I get nervous when I hear “reparation.” I suppose it reminds me of my time on the Planet Charismatic, when I honestly thought... Read more
It seems like nothing gets published these days unless it’s in listicle format. In my day, we learned to write paragraphs with good strong opening sentences and mic-dropping closing sentences– but we didn’t call them mic-dropping, because the phrase “mic drop” hadn’t been invented yet. We wrote thoughtful, grammatically correct middle sentences of varying lengths to create a smooth prose that was pleasant for a literate audience. We put a title at the top whether the teacher reminded us... Read more
People keep making Baptist jokes lately. “The difference between a Baptist and a Catholic is that Baptists don’t speak to one another at the liquor store. ‘ “I only invite two or more Baptists whenever I go fishing. Otherwise they will drink all my beer.” Want to hear a really good story about a Baptist? It’s a true one, too. A Baptist walks into a casino… Let me start at the beginning. Michael’s grandpa was a Baptist and a self-identified... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In