Corner Pocket
It doesn’t seem fair to give too many details, since she didn’t know she’d be on the record. She challenged my friend to a game of pool, she challenged everyone … Continue reading
Slow and Steady
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
At the rest area in Sutherland, Nebraska, he exits the driver’s side of his old Ford truck, takes off his hat, and…
The Whatever Grandpa
Though there are dozens of food carts outside for the Midnight Sun Festival, she sits with Grandma and Grandpa in an air conditioned restaurant with tall tables. She gazes at … Continue reading
An Apple A Day
She’s been silently enjoying her lunch. Though she’s consuming soup she blows quietly to cool it, like whispering over a sleeping child, and she eats from a breadbowl, which makes … Continue reading
Pout
The little girl with a hot pink jacket runs the wrong way on the airport’s moving sidewalk. She’s on the phone. “Frozen and Superheroes, Save me! Grandpa’s trying to get … Continue reading
Inspire Curiosity
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
Men who sell simits–a bagel-pretzel coated in toasted sesame seeds–are almost as ubiquitous in Istanbul as ankle-breakable holes in the sidewalk. Since…
In Mom’s Garden
Mom and I are on a little trip and I have to hustle, so I don’t have a story today. Actually, I’ve been collecting tons of stories for you all, … Continue reading
Car Dancing
The boy is a teenager, but also a boy. He sits in the passenger seat of a truck and dances in his spot. He sit-dances with the best of them, … Continue reading
Intractable Gestures
In those years his father held that a nation could change its way of life, its history, its technology, it’s art, literature and culture, but it would never have a … Continue reading
Guest Post: The Huffy Prophet by Sarie Fischer Norval
I hope you’ll enjoy this guest post from my dear friend Sarie. I think her story helps explain why we’ve been friends for 17 years…whoa. Teaching a summer class has … Continue reading
Neighborly
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
The eleven year old girl on the bus moves over to sit in front of her mother. This way she is now…
Do Envy the Oldsters
From this one may see that there is no reason to pity the old people. Instead, young people should envy them. It is true that the old have no opportunities, … Continue reading
Way Far Away
He is tiny in Timberland boots. He holds the orange plastic bat over his shoulder, as his father shows him. When Dad tosses the light, white plastic ball the little … Continue reading
Thank You For Your Service
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
He ambled through the aisle of the convenience store. His hat read “Veteran: World War II.” I beamed at him, as I…
Learning to be Cool
The father wants to take a photograph of his daughter at the large airport window, in front of the airplane they will take to Vienna. He’s removed his shoes and … Continue reading
For the Hard Days
“Too often,” [Bear Hayes] said, “we lose sight of just how much we have to be grateful for. And we must be grateful for our hardships. We must be more … Continue reading
The Joy of Forgetting
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
This morning I took my notebook out for a date at the park. We had a delightful time. I ran a pen…
The Anticipation of Memory
To a certain extent he took comfort in the inevitable and when they sat down to dinner he could already, a little, look upon her as a lovely fragment of … Continue reading
Shoulder to Shoulder
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
On the winding road down the Croatian coast, a couple gazes toward the turquoise sea one usually only glimpses in movies. She…
The Nod
Waiting in the Arrivals Lounge, they stand, they gaze toward the gate area. A woman in bright white shoes tugs at the hem of her shirt in the wait, adjusts … Continue reading
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