Plastic Farm AnimalsWe grow food in our back yard. The Sunken Gardens of Moncure is the name we gave to the old swimming pool Lyle filled in with dirt in 2009 and that Bob fenced in the following year. We have a compost pile, wood pile, fruit trees, two cars, one run on biodiesel, and a few […]
Sometimes I wake up and think for a moment I’m still in Kumasi but that notion vanishes as soon as I begin listening to the sounds of the pre-dawn day. You know you’re not in Ghana anymore when: The first pre-dawn sounds are tires on asphalt, not half a dozen roosters Its freezing outside and […]
Shortly after sundown on the vernal equinox, a group of people gathered to light a bonfire and exorcise winter from their rural neighborhood in central North Carolina. Dancing, chanting “Winter, go away!” as the flames sent sparks rising to a starlit canopy, they believed they were bringing on a new, warmer season. Bob and I […]
It’s my morning to write and I can’t think of anything to say. The sun is going through the motions on another cold day, rising to spotlight the branches of the oak across the street. The squirrels are fighting over bird seed. Traffic dribbles down the Moncure Pittsboro Road. The forced air heat and refrigerator […]
I love those greeting cards that say, “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better – like fine wine.” And it’s true as far as I can tell. I listen to cassette tapes I made in my twenties and cringe at my tone, asserting myself brashly, my insecurity thinly disguised as self-confidence. Yet, I so appreciate […]