Tin is frequently called out for being disruptive in school. I know his invisibility in a class of 27 students, seven with special needs, fosters some of his behavior. He wants to be Seen. Heard. Touched. Here in our home school, his rhythm is the antithesis of my “get r done” process. I go after a task as if it were my sole purpose in life. He flits in and out of his tasks as…
I went to Costco yesterday. I had my N95 mask and rubber gloves. I wanted to get power greens for my smoothies. I got a list of needs from a neighbor and also wanted to get power greens for another friend. On the drive over to New Orleans, I felt a touch of apprehension about going to Costco but last week when I was there it was virtually empty. I let it go and felt…
My friend Alicein shut down our beloved Mockingbird Cafe yesterday and oh what a difference to us. This morning, she brought over some of the kitchen produce and I was cooking my mom’s cabbage dish and needed tomatoes and Wala! Thank you, Alicein, for giving during tough times. Yesterday, my friend Kat left books for me and Tin on her porch steps along with two containers of homemade chicken soup. On top of the box…
I went to sleep so peacefully. “Thanks,” was the last word on my lips. I woke a few hours later with a vice grip closing around my throat. It’s all not alright. None of it. The project that has dogged me since last year is howling at the moon right outside my window – loose ends that have frayed my last nerve. There is no money coming in but there is money is going out.…
FOUND: There is a dirty little secret about the COVID-19 pandemic – more time for everything. Long walks. Bike rides. Books. Movies. Time to chat and check in with friends – albeit at a (social) distance. LOSS: The momentum of my business here at the 100 Men Hall. I was building an audience, a reputation, a community, sponsors, grants, a vision and now the rug has been pulled out from under me. FOUND: A community.…
My dear, We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t fuck them. Don’t let them explore you until they’ve explored the secret universes of books. Don’t let them connect with you until they’ve walked between the lines on the pages. Books are cool, if you have to withhold yourself from someone for a bit in order for them to realize this then do so.…
My mother was an enchanting beauty with her jade green eyes and thick honeyed hair. She turned heads. My sister with her high cheek bones and muscular petite frame has my mom’s looks. Growing up next to these beauties never fazed me. I didn’t compare myself to them or any of the other strikingly beautiful friends I’ve come to know over the years. I know beauty is luck and sometimes even a curse. But I’m…
The human corridor has expanded for many of us walkers because we have time. My 2-3 mile walks are now a meandering 4-7 miles most mornings. I find myself in new neighborhoods, waving to new people on their porches, and even today being followed by a new dog all the way to the Hall (spoiler alert: the owner came to get her). On my walk this morning, I listened to a meditation that asked what…
I started writing this blog in 2004 when my mother’s health was declining and my desire to move home to New Orleans was all consuming. I wrote my way through one crisis after another until it felt like I had nothing left to say. Then 16 years later, the coronavirus slapped us all upside the head and I found myself looking for a weight to anchor my days. As Carrie Fisher said, “Take your broken…
I refer to Katrina as the 2005 Federal Flood – as many bloggers who covered the event do. After all, it was the failure of the levees built by the Corp of Engineers that caused the flooding. So it comes as no surprise to me the pandemic spread of the coronavirus points back to failure of the federal government to warn us properly. January 2020 – US senators debriefed on the potential spread of COVID-19…