columns
Here are a few of the columns I wrote for The Mobile Register when we lived in Alabama. I was their “Mom” columnist and they called the column “Family Fare,” but they had an expansive view of what that meant. Very grateful for that. Here are a few samples from years ago, edited for length and style.
Two white birds, their necks curved like question marks . . .
The conspiracy of Marriage
My professor was in the middle of his life and his face had a sad cast, even when he smiled. He seemed cheered by the news that I was getting married and nodded his approval. Then he said, with some urgency, “Marriage is a conspiracy, you know. Just the two of you against the world.”
When I am sad, I sometimes think of Cyrano.
So like hands
“Snyder, drop that toad right now!” My cat was running down the sidewalk, dangling a limp body from his ruthless little mouth.
When he released his victim, I saw that it was not a toad. But what was it?
I think of my own mental interior . . . a dark and tortured Bosch landscape . . .
inside your head
It is a bad night. I lie there with my eyes closed, but my brain refuses to believe I’m tired.
“Gas leak!” says my mind. “Horrible, fatal explosion! All. Your. Fault.”
No, no, no, I tell my brain. The gas stove is fine. Go to sleep.
“Taxes!” it replies.