athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

Category: Selections

  • Exerpt from Mark Twain’s War Prayer

    Mark Twain’s “War Prayer”. It’s not for everyone. It’s not sweet nor is it funny. Lots of folks don’t even like it. “Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth into battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go…

  • Mom’s Road Trip, Revisted

    Mom lost her mind and married Roebuck. None of the kids could stand him, but she was entitled to her midlife crisis, same as anyone else. Since his house burned down on their first date, something about gunpowder gun cleaning equipment and an explosion, such a catastrophe, that they moved…

  • Lotsa Dollar Surprise

    I left the windows on the car open when it got hot in the summer. Mom and Dad always did, so I figured I better too. The car was so hot a dog would have died if I’d have left it in there, a kid would have too, open windows…

  • Hollers

    I am from hollersCreativity is shunnedDo what you are told

  • On Writing…

    If you’re doing your best writing, you’re always on the cusp of embarrassing yourself.” –Arthur Miller I’ve been tasked to write my Author’s Mission Statement. It’s in the brainstorming and drafting stages at this point. I’ve stolen phrases from other writers I know. I’ve stuck fancy words in it and…

  • My School Family and Friends

     It must be the year thirty-eight, thirty-nine, or it could be forty of my teaching career.. I felt good when I walked onto campus this year until I found out my friend, the head cook, wouldn’t, couldn’t be back to work. She has terminal cancer. She seemed fine at the…

  • A Journey With Frank Sinatra

    The pile of vinyl records dropped one Frank Sinatra album onto the turntable. He crooned about Strangers in the Night, and I smiled in my sleep. The needle skipped and Snoopy and the Red Barron were fighting it out in the sky. The needle jumped to Bolero, it pranced around…

  • How to hide a genius

    Shunning is done with silent delight.

  • Every storm runs out of rain

    It wasn’t the right plant for the right place like she’d hoped.

  • The Simple Pleasure of Coffee 

    It was a monumental act of kindness.

  • Elegant Last-Minute Wedding Look: My DIY Dress Disaster

    I bought the perfect shoes to wear to my niece’s wedding. They were black leather with an inch and a half kitten heel. Just above the heel was a gold plate that made me glisten when I walked.  But I didn’t have a dress, so I  made one. I haven’t…

  • Creative Ostracism: My School Experience Unveiled

    “Your ideas are weird. We don’t want to play with you anymore,” said first grader Selene to first grader me. We were writing a script for a play everyone didn’t know they already knew the words to. They were such babies. I figured the first grade debacle was just frustration…

  • Taming Tigers: A Ballet Prodigy’s Story

    She twirled and emerged from the rose that was her dress. The petals, layers of dark crimson velvet and rose red chiffon fell around her pirouettes and toe shoes. She leapt through the air.  All eyes were on her. Grace and glory. A vision of beauty in time and space,…

  • Full Moon Castle Invitation: A Midnight Musical Tale

    He wasn’t sure he could stay up that late. It was a fluke that he was awake at this hour.