Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Writing
#40 of 92 Whitefish Point Light (On the 51st Anniversary of the Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald)
The light that night was meaningless, feeble; it could do no more than pretend hope, tease the drowning, be a marker for the dead. The light did last, though, despite its failure. It is still there.
#38 of 92: Virginia and Lenny’s First Meeting (A Story)
“You see the guy over there playing Chinese Checkers with himself? That’s Lenny.” Virginia nodded. Before the woman at the front desk pointed him out, there looked to be a dozen Lennys, all about the same age and in the same state of suspension… Continue Reading “#38 of 92: Virginia and Lenny’s First Meeting (A Story)”
#33 of 92: Change of Season
Chapped lips smoking lights Ashes-burned tiny rimmed holes Singed red flannel smell ________________ Photo by Sandis Helvigs on Unsplash ______________________ Originally published in k2018
This Year’s Cake
This year, the banana cake has a half inch layer of cream cheese frosting. Last year’s cake was bare because I didn’t want to use the last of my cream cheese for frosting and we weren’t shopping in stores then, only getting grocery deliveries.… Continue Reading “This Year’s Cake”
#21 of 92: Blue Sky Good Life
Judge minutes, not years Let go of the last bad thing Love a smiling dog
#17 of 92: Struggle at the Escanaba Goodwill, Part 2
[See Part 1 of this fascinating story here.) The old lady was in line just two people away from the cashier. There was still time to get the shirt back. Normally, she’d just give it up, you know, avoid making a scene, but this… Continue Reading “#17 of 92: Struggle at the Escanaba Goodwill, Part 2”
#16 of 92: Struggle at the Escanaba Goodwill, Part 1
Gloria stepped back from the women’s shirt rack and waited for the old lady to pass. Experienced thrift store shoppers know the dance. A person rifling through the hangers from one direction will step back and let the person rifling from the other direction… Continue Reading “#16 of 92: Struggle at the Escanaba Goodwill, Part 1”
The Short Answer is I Don’t
How do you write what people actually want to read? View all responses My writing is an acquired taste. Most of my readers are older women. When they die off, my husband will be my only reader. He reads everything but doesn’t like everything.… Continue Reading “The Short Answer is I Don’t”
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”
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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