When I wrote in my article “Altitude Sickness” about working at a local five-star hotel and the experiences I had with guests there, those anecdotes happened when I worked for the children’s program. I spent the eight years previous to that working in the retail part of the hotel. In fact, my first job ever was in the drugstore as a soda jerk. I was hired just after I graduated
Crimson and Clover As I watched the pink soap bubbles floating on the dirt, grass, and clover, I couldn’t get over how pretty they were. “Shit,” I said, staring at the ever widening pink puddle. TJ, Captain Brown’s driver and whose jeep we were scrubbing, nodded. “Nobody back home will believe this,” he said. TJ deftly scooped up bits of white bone, grey brain tissue, and black hair that kept
I hate commas. I don’t mean hate like, “I hate blue M&Ms.” I mean hate as in, “I hate choking to death on a brussel sprout.” English teacher and writer that I am, I shouldn’t expend such emotion on a mere punctuation mark. It’s too little of an item to stress about in life. But I don’t care. I hate the little buggers, and I greatly admire the Romans. They
In the heart of winter, I contemplate my winter’s heart. Frigid days bring sinking into slush puddles against the icy wind, starting the day with cold feet, jumping into a dark car only to join the cattle call of the highway. I have to refuse this heart. My heart is elsewhere. I am consumed by the memory of a rose. Take a rose petal in your hand. Stroke it. Lift
In the past, I associated poker with gambling in what my mother called “Dens of Iniquity.” Still, gambling never held much interest-I can think of a million better ways to spend several hundred dollars than losing it to chance. However, after I began playing in a local tournament at Studio A64 in Colorado Springs, I’ve developed a different perspective on this American tradition. As a game, poker truly uses a wide range
Zera walked ahead of the others to the white stone building housing the Pikes Peak Cog Railway Depot. A sign in front listed the departure times. Zera took a deep breath and studied it while the others caught up. “The last one leaves at 5 P.M.,” she told them. “What time is it now?” asked Hattie. Hattie laughed when she found out not one of them had taken a v-phone
