Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Marriage, Family, Dogs, and Cat
A Long Time Coming: Getting to Know My Father
It didn’t take long for my father to develop an email style. His very first email carried what would become his signature farewell. TIE. Take it easy. Sometimes he added SIT. Stay in touch. His emails were short, very factual, reporting on his bowling… Continue Reading “A Long Time Coming: Getting to Know My Father”
The Scary People are Coming to Dinner
The part about extending invitations to dinner is luscious.”Oh, you really must come, see our new kitchen.” Head toss, wave. The best feeling ever is when the event itself is a long ways off, a beautiful feast on the horizon, everyone well-coiffed, pleasant, and… Continue Reading “The Scary People are Coming to Dinner”
Elegy
Stand with 10,000 ghostsHear their last wordsHurrying to the riverRunning into the treesShedding this life for new Drop your envy and yearning on the groundNestle your love in the rocks’ mortarBe part of the wall that stays behindShelter the lost and the growingReach your… Continue Reading “Elegy”
The Precious Routine of Life
We ate at seven because the store closed at six and it took my father time to empty the cash drawers, roll up the awning, double check all the doors including the big steel door in the back where we got the big shipment… Continue Reading “The Precious Routine of Life”
Fish Tales
My husband is cooking a red snapper for dinner. With the head on. Because that’s how sophisticated people cook red snapper. So later at our dinner table, there will be the whole fish lying on its side, its one visible eye unfocused and baked.… Continue Reading “Fish Tales”
Now I Know
A few years ago, we took our granddaughter camping. It rained all night, thundered with lightening strikes, and in the morning everything was soaked but the day was bright and clear. We went hiking up a trail to a lookout where we could see… Continue Reading “Now I Know”
Adaptation
We were set. Ready to ramble around Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. But then something happened at home and we had to turn around. We drove nine hours, most of it in a driving rain, to get back to where we needed to… Continue Reading “Adaptation”
Noteworthy
The Christmas decorations are up in the dark park. We can see them because of the streetlights and the light coming from the fires in the yellow barrels. It is Sleep Out Saturday, an event held by a local elected official to draw attention… Continue Reading “Noteworthy”
We Are Who We Pretend to Be
At six o’clock on Halloween, I’d decide what I was going to be that year. The choice would always come down to being a bum or a hobo, the difference being that a hobo costume would include a stick with a bundle tied on… Continue Reading “We Are Who We Pretend to Be”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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