“It’s hard to resist, isn’t it?” “Yeah, I always walk by the plant section when I’m in here. I’m tempted to buy plants, even in the dead of winter when I know they’ll freeze.” We both laugh at ourselves and then push our buggies our separate ways along the grocery aisle. I wasn’t kidding, though. …
“If you’re feeling down, just wear red,” Miss Carla often said. As Linda walked into the room, she spotted Miss Carla right away at the bingo tables, wearing her signature color and hovering over her bingo card in anticipation as she alternately eyed her opponent across the table and glanced at the activities coordinator who …
The cold darkness outside the house seemed to increase the warmth and brightness inside as the ladies laid out their dishes and serving spoons in the dining room and chatted in the kitchen. The appetizers were already disappearing and undergoing discussion as the women exchanged recipes and tips, dabbing crackers into warm cream cheese dips …
“One of the first things I noticed was how much they loved to laugh.” Kallie had once heard someone comment that about his first impression of his coworkers who lived in the South. Kallie had noticed the same trend in her own workplaces. In fact, laughter had made every job better and brighter for her. …
“Guess how old I be?” It felt like a dare, a test, and a trap all at once. Anyone with half an ounce of sense knows never to talk about a woman’s age, even if she asks, especially if she asks. But this woman was insisting with a somewhat gap-toothed grin, bent on pulling us …
This story has been waiting for words for a while, building up pressure and momentum, weighing on my heart as I gather it in bits and pieces. The stuff of life put under pressure, I hear, is what produces diamonds. But to put it in such blunt words as carbon and pressure feels uncouth, not …
Everyone knew who she was. She was the grump—and an English professor. Most of them couldn’t recall of what specialty. But she was first and foremost the grump. At every faculty party, she reigned as the food critic who held nothing back except compliments. She was worse than the worst food critic, in fact, for …
Chapter One: The Bard Chapter Two: The Mountain Chapter Three: The Cave Chapter Four: The Prophesy Chapter Five: The Nymph Chapter Six: The Quest Homer found himself drawn to the mountainside he had walked once with the son of Troy and his flock. His guide brought him to a grassy outcrop, and Homer sent him away …
Chapter One: The Bard Chapter Two: The Mountain Chapter Three: The Cave Chapter Four: The Prophesy Chapter Five: The Nymph When Homer woke the next morning, he went in search of the young boy who lived nearby and who would often be his eyes and run his errands. “Tell me, lad, have you heard of a …
Chapter One: The Bard Chapter Two: The Mountain Chapter Three: The Cave Chapter Four: The Prophesy Homer found himself under a tree, at the mouth of a different cave and understood his prayer had been granted. He rose to his feet stiffly and called out into the cave, “Oenone, nymph of this mountain, I have a …
Worthwhile Words 