Dec 30, 2021The Hunting GroundsDawn had not quite broken when Dad shook me awake. He stood over me in his camouflage coverall. “Get on up,” he said and sat on the side of the bed. He gathered me up. Pulling hunting clothes over my pajamas. After he pulled on his boots, he zipped me…Wrtiting9 min readWrtiting9 min read
Dec 11, 2021A Bunny For All SeasonsAfter the pledge of allegiance, a reciting of a biblical psalm and a prayer, the teachers at Blountstown Elementary School gathered us children together. The announcement? The theme of 1976 school pageant would be “A Holiday Celebration”. Christmas had already been snagged by the kindergarten class. The third graders, St…Easter Bunny8 min readEaster Bunny8 min read
Dec 9, 2021For the Love of Karen BlackIn 1975 I was six and my life changed. That was the year I fell in love with Karen Black. She was….is, to me, what great acting is all about. You simply believed her. The thing with Karen was she always seemed to have a secret. She was the girl…Horror Movies4 min readHorror Movies4 min read
Dec 9, 2021Party LinesYesterday, as I was typing this story, a phone call came through my computer screen. I didn’t even realize that I’d answered until I heard a voice say, “Hello”. A friend had called. We chatted while I pulled up the internet to look at a piece of furniture she was…Telephone6 min readTelephone6 min read
Dec 3, 2021The Christmas Pie AffairMy grandma was a great Southern cook. She baked coconut cakes and cooked fat, pink hams. She fried the breast of the turkey and then incorporated the rest into dressing. She would pull a moist, golden-brown casserole of corn bread, turkey, celery, onion, and sticks of butter from the oven…Christmas5 min readChristmas5 min read
Dec 3, 2021VistasMy dad insisted on visiting Asheville during Halloween weekend, but I wanted him to come earlier. By then, leaves are past their peak in the valleys, and have blown away from the ridge tops. Besides, on that last weekend of October the weather can be unpredictable. Wouldn’t he rather come…Blue Ridge Parkway4 min readBlue Ridge Parkway4 min read
Dec 2, 2021Georgia/CassandraDon’t be Afraid of the Dark was a televised movie from the late seventies that scared me to death. I watched it with my mother’s sister, Aunt Georgia. The next day at breakfast she laid out the plot to my mother, “It’s all about this woman. She’s being tormented by…Cassandra7 min readCassandra7 min read
