Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Writing
Night Swim: A Story
[It’s been a night swim these past few months after our daughter’s death, but now I’m finding the raft. It’s good.] She’d dreamt of swimming across the lake a thousand times. The dreams were always the same. There was a full moon that shone… Continue Reading “Night Swim: A Story”
Writing Bleak
(I wrote this on August 5, 2017. Nine years later, I’m in a different spot about death and grieving. I’ll write about that later today. Two posts on the same day. Wild.) The problem with writing when you’re anxious or a little depressed is… Continue Reading “Writing Bleak”
The Undocumented Bumble Bee Kite
I am trying to live an undocumented life but it is very difficult when one’s practice is to document everything. This afternoon, flying a bumblebee kite, I thought about how I ought to take a picture of the kite, more specifically the string running… Continue Reading “The Undocumented Bumble Bee Kite”
Julia and Fennel Nights
What I love most about watching episodes of Julia Child’s The French Chef is how she scrapes the inside of a fish after scaling it and having the scales flying all over the place. I love how she pulls all the guts out, rinses… Continue Reading “Julia and Fennel Nights”
Prison Town: Part Two
“There’s a real old cemetery out on 16, take it to Henning Road and go east, maybe four miles. There’s a park there but next to the park is an old cemetery. It’s a dirt road, though, so be careful.” Robert, Sr. appreciated… Continue Reading “Prison Town: Part Two”
Prison Town: Part One
It felt like visiting the other side of the moon, but he’d gotten used to it. His son, Robert Jr. , had been an inmate at the medium security prison in Newberry going on three years. Newberry and Detroit were in the same state… Continue Reading “Prison Town: Part One”
The Searing Comfort of Layla
I spent the summer of 1973 sitting on a blanket atop the scorched brown grass behind our Flint townhouse, yards of black cord connected my bagel-size headphones to our stereo inside. I watched my eight-month old baby girl sit and crawl and eat the… Continue Reading “The Searing Comfort of Layla”
Two Vignettes for Your Reading Pleasure
We followed a beat-up white panel truck with no license plates down the street that winds through the forest of apartment buildings along the Milwaukee River. When the street expanded to two lanes, we pulled up next to the truck and right away heard… Continue Reading “Two Vignettes for Your Reading Pleasure”
People You Can’t Forget: Mr. Dillard
Mr. Dillard always wore a dress shirt buttoned up to the neck but no tie along with pleated dress pants, I remember khakis but maybe they were just plain black pants, and nice shoes. He was always handsomely put together with a cardigan or… Continue Reading “People You Can’t Forget: Mr. Dillard”
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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