THE COLOR PURPLE

"“I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it.”—The Color Purple by Alice Walker My favorite pair of gloves are purple. They are not quite dark enough because I want the shade to conceal stains. That sounds practical, but I also prefer the shadows, …

AMAZING NAMES

On 10 September 2015, I created a folder on my computer titled COLORbook. My intention was to complete a series of chapters about color, an entire book of nonfiction about my personal and cultural understanding of color. The idea had been stirring in my head for a long time. My earliest essay about color I …

WASTED

Wasted. Not drunk or high, I'm talking about money. Our biggest waste was "The Maples," a piece of land just over two acres that my husband and I purchased in the early 80s when our firstborn was a baby. I have photos someplace of me holding him in my arms. Above us are the enormous …

NO LIE

just for fun. "On the Decay of the Art of Lying" is a short speech (or essay) written by Mark Twain in 1880 for a meeting of the Historical and Antiquarian Club of Hartford, Connecticut. Observe, I do not mean to suggest that the custom of lying has suffered any decay or interruption--no, for the Lie, as …

STEP 8: Done, sort of

I completed two quilt tops this month, and pieced the back of one of them too. To be perfectly honest, I have completed two quilts at once before. But this was especially fun. I could, in the simplest form, sew two lengths of cloth together to make a front and do the same for the …

REVISION

I have a story under consideration just now at two literary journals. One of them has had it for well over a year. The other began considering it today. It is an important story to me for a variety of reasons and has received a good deal of praise from editors who "nearly" chose to …

‘Are we there yet?’

It's one of those phrases. "Poor kitties" is another. I should probably list more, but two will do. Today is our anniversary. Forty-fifth, unless you count our time together as a couple, which pushes it to fifty. We have a lot of lines and inside jokes that no one gets but the two of us. …

HIM

I have avoided saying his name or typing it, but it's really getting out of hand now. I am sorry if you disagree. (Trump supporters had best avert their eyes. I am not likely to devote another post to this particular issue. It will be safe to return.) Recent events and words are beyond offensive. …

HERE WE ARE

Rabbits ate my new roses. Bother [both] of them. Every leaf. But the stubborn plants refused to die. They pushed out new leaves. One of them blooms. Last year a visitor asked my husband why he'd hauled a twisty drift-root up from the beach. "What are you going to do with it?" This.

REPRESENTATION?

Yesterday there was a march and protest in Portland. Our younger son and his wife work in the theater, which means that they are nearly always downtown on Saturdays. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on stage at the Keller. The A.P. reported: "Flag-waving members of the Proud Boys and Three Percenters militia group began …