Two lesbians walked into a bar. They ordered drinks and gazed at the bartender intently, with a “let’s make babies” kind of look, a look my brother rarely got from women at a gay bar, but especially not from a lesbian couple. Something queer was going on. These women had sought my brother out. After […]
How Queer Is Your Family? Read More »
I got on my knees and leaned forward in my seat to get a better view. The teacher, a visitor from the high school, dropped the flaming sheet of notebook paper into the milk bottle and then placed the hardboiled egg on top. The paper flared briefly and then went out. But the egg slowly,
Welcome, Dr. Clyde Tombaugh. We’ve Been Expecting You. Read More »
Fifteen years of my career as a teacher were spent at a little prairie high school of about 300 students. In a school that small, I taught most students all four years of high school, so I had the opportunity to truly appreciate them and their families, and to really make a difference with their
There’s something to be said for picking up a hitchhiker. When the day is the right day, and the hitchhiker is the right person, you can witness something extraordinary. Since childhood, many of us have had fear instilled in us that such transients cannot be trusted, are up to no good, and should just find
Hitchhiker Inspirational: The Outlaw Read More »
Here it is. Five in the morning and I am chugging coffee in a desperate attempt to get out from under my drooping eyelids. I just need my four-month old daughter, Stella, to sleep for a few more minutes before I need to be on. Being a parent sometimes feels like being a talk show
My mom, Cornelia Maria Arnold, or Connie Arnold, was a robust woman with salt and pepper hair and sage green eyes. She had tough freckled skin from spending most of her days working in the garden. When you walked toward her, she always had a sparkling smile on her face and would wave at you as
Cornelia Maria Arnold Read More »