The Evil Eye Sometimes I don't know which way to turn. I am lost and confused. That's because I've never been good at distinguishing right from wrong. I mean right from left. Like I said, I get confused. I recall standing in front of my preschool teacher at age five, being quizzed on which was … Continue reading The Evil Eye
Cancer Cure I didn't always plan on being a high school science teacher. Or a yoga teacher. Or a writer, or a mom, or whatever it is that I am. I planned on being a doctor. There was a time when that dream meant veterinarian, but gradually it shifted, to naturopathic doctor. That's basically like … Continue reading Cancer Cure
Tobacco Barns I was born in 1982, or as my seven-year-old calls it, the "nineteen hundred and eighties." No, you may not call it that. It wasn't that long ago. It was just the other day. It was "the eighties" - we can all agree to that, can't we? The eighties were the last decade … Continue reading Tobacco Barns
Super Power Cultivator Our neighbor gave my son a “Super Power Cultivator” for his fifth birthday. Here it is, in its Power-Concentrating Box: "How do I use it?" he asked. “Use your imagination,” she said. So, he speaks into it and tell it what superpowers he wants to gain. "I want to go faster," he … Continue reading Super Power Cultivator
Pollywiggle Pollywog I have a soft spot for amphibians, partly because they're so soft and vulnerable. Ask me my favorite animal, and I'll say "salamander." Unless I'm holding your Jello-boned cat; then he's my favorite. Or watching the blonde squirrel in my yard; then she's my favorite. But all the other times, it's salamanders. They're … Continue reading Pollywiggle pollywog
A Love Letter to Oysters Note: A version of this essay won Second Prize in the 2023 Carolina Woman Writing Contest This post is a love letter to oysters. But you should just read it to yourself. Oysters have mouths but no ears; they won't hear a thing. We hosted an oyster roast over the … Continue reading A Love Letter to Oysters
My Favorite Book Those are big words. Can you really have just one favorite book? Maybe not, but John Crowley’s Little, Big has been my favorite for the longest - since I was about sixteen, and unnaturally intuitive aunt gifted me the novel for Christmas. I decided to read Little, Big again, with attention as … Continue reading My Favorite Book
Trash Talk My friend watches a YouTube channel, Northern Mudlarks, featuring a Scottish mother-daughter team who hunt for (dubious) treasure along riverbanks and other shores. They find mud, reliably, and tiny pieces of the past that they analyze for value and meaning. Could that pot shard be from a moonshine jug? Could that pipe have … Continue reading Trash talk
Good Wives, Warriors, and Myths What do these three things have in common? A book - two books, really, and they're both amazing. Is it the illustrations, done in fantabulistic detail and psychedelic color? Yes. Is it the sparse, visually invocative writing, just enough to make each creature come alive? Yes. But most importantly, it's … Continue reading Good Wives, Warriors, and Myths
Jessi Waugh Writer 