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Apparently the flight cancelled while they were actually on it. On the runway. Waiting for take-off. Mid-sentence, even. Captain welcoming everyone on board after such a long delay, apologizing on behalf of of the airline, relaying flight details, cruising altitude, the weather conditions in New York and–oops, what’s this? “Well, folks, uh….Looks like they’ve…uh…cancelled this flight.” Mid-sentence. I didn’t know they could do that. Ellie and I had dropped our three travelers at the airport… Continue reading
I guess it’s safe to say Gerald has come home. Metaphorically speaking, I think it’s safe to say he’s been found. Poor Gerald. Gerald is the name of a goldfish that went missing William’s freshman year of high school. You get that he didn’t really, right? Spoiler alert. I suppose we should’ve been more suspicious when boy appeared hyper studious after so many years of not that. Why one day out of the blue he… Continue reading
The Hike, Part II Not till we are down the mountain does Sophie tell me she wasn’t sure she could do it. Tell that to my legs and knees, which will be recovering for days from our eight-hour hike. If my thighs could move they might up and smack her. She was worried! All day I followed her up that rocky trail, 8.8 miles in as many hours, trying to keep pace with a teenager… Continue reading
It’s five a.m. and there are lights in our woods. I can see them out the bedroom balcony window, trajectories of light, all angular—all up, all down, piercing the silent trees standing clueless; and then a car, emerging slowly through them along a path Will raked so he could use it more quietly coming and going from his secret garage. What the—?! Bill’s up too, having helped boy get out safely, standing ready in case… Continue reading
A high school swim meet is a spirited affair. A flash of light, a starter gun sounds and a line of swimmers sail off the blocks. The spectators cheer, the music blares, the water boils. When you get a really fast event (the 50) filled with top swimmers who appear to clear the pool in five strokes, riding atop a wave of water and spray, it’s a pretty exhilarating sight. All my kids’ careers in… Continue reading
It’s called the Burk Emporium for a reason. After near 30 years in the same house, two attics and three sheds-full later, we have one of everything on the planet. If not, we can surely procure one for you. And this year—well, it’s been a year of stuff. For one, middle age has us surveying the landscape in newly wise ways. All those years of college move-ins and outs (with bonus pandemic extensions), combined with… Continue reading
It’s gingerbread time in the library again. Middle school library, subbing there since September. The sixth-grade math classes have come through all week with a project to teach ratio and proportion using graham crackers and candy. Plus gobs of icing. Apparently, they do it every year. A much-anticipated event. I was the lucky sub who got to go down to the cafeteria at lunch time and divert 100 milk cartons out of the trash to… Continue reading
It’s not Bubba or Billy Bob’s garage, but it’s close. I’ll have to change the name, of course, but you can picture the sort of backroads country auto garage out in Louisa County. On this particular Monday morning Hank, the owner and lead mechanic, is on his way over to his buddy’s machine shop to press out a wheel bearing. Buddy owns a different shop and has the press Hank needs. After that he’s got… Continue reading
Two days before our backpacking trip, a box arrives containing my rush order supplies. Having given increasing worry thought to the prospect of staking out on the Appalachian Trail for three days with my son the wilderness boy, I’ve spent a fair bit of time online myself, researching and preparing for disaster adventure. It’s like Christmas at the dinner table, and even though Bill oohs over each item from the box, my trip planner just… Continue reading
I don’t know about seven of them. I’ll be lucky to find just one. Deep in the woods bordering the George Washington National Forest, approximately five miles from Shrine Mont Circle, is a deep, clear pool of water known affectionately by weekend hikers as Seven Springs. It has always been part of a hiking triumvirate: hike to the Cross on Friday, North Mountain on Saturday, Seven Springs on Sunday, squeezed in after worship and before… Continue reading
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Souvenirs 