My father always had a bird in his pocket. No, of course not really. What a mess that would be. Still, all my life, I remember children running up to him and with arms over their heads, waiting to be swooped up onto his hip, and shrieking to see the bird. In the last years… Continue reading Uncle Bird
Category: Time Machine
Never
Paul asked me again when I am taking this picture down. He's asked at intervals for years. He doesn't like the answer, for reasons that escape me. Never. I am never taking it down. It used to be above the fireplace in a frame, but the frame was destroyed in a mysterious accident. I wasn't… Continue reading Never
Picture Perfect
I came home from picture day in the fall of 1981, and my mother said, "Did you comb your hair before your pictures?" "Oh no," I said, all first-grade innocence, "It didn't need it!" Mom groaned. The pictures came back the way she predicted. If they did retakes then, she didn't bother with them, and I'm… Continue reading Picture Perfect
Marigolds
I love the sass my niece is bringing in this picture, but my favorite thing is the flowers, despite the fact that I cannot stand marigolds. The flower bed along our driveway extended out toward the road and then curved around and went along the frontage for a bit. Every year, my mother planted the entire… Continue reading Marigolds
The Crew
This picture is not dated, but based on my father's glasses, it was taken before I was born. He's third from left, my dad, and four of the other fellows are my first cousins. (There are two I don't recognize, which doesn't necessarily mean they aren't related to me, too.) It would have been early morning, when… Continue reading The Crew