Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Writing
Walk Diary #3: So How Was It?
If anyone tells you that walking a marathon is easy, they are just simply full of shit. I don’t care how well trained you are – 26 miles in the sun, up and down hills — is tough. Can it be done? Yes. I just… Continue Reading “Walk Diary #3: So How Was It?”
Walk Diary #2: Let’s Do This Damn Thing
I made the mistake of telling people I was pregnant 30 seconds after it happened. Then ensued what seemed an interminable wait for my baby to be born prompting regular inquiries, “Haven’t you had that baby yet?” Of course, the baby ended up being… Continue Reading “Walk Diary #2: Let’s Do This Damn Thing”
Walk Diary #1: Mind Tricks
For the last several months I have been preparing for a long distance walk, a two-day event that includes a marathon (26.2 miles) on the first day and a half-marathon (13.1 miles) on the second. The walk, an Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, takes… Continue Reading “Walk Diary #1: Mind Tricks”
The Wire
It wasn’t a coat hanger. It was a wire. The theory was that by inserting the wire through the cervix, moving it around a bit and then removing it, an infection would result and the pregnancy would be aborted. It worked. It was March… Continue Reading “The Wire”
Swimmer Girl
I wonder what she thinks about stroke after stroke. She’s told people she has a 60-hour playlist in her head of favorite tunes from ‘her generation.’ Being of her generation, I wonder what’s on the list – Stones or Beatles, Motown or Beachboys? She’s… Continue Reading “Swimmer Girl”
The Unbelievable Reality of the Pit Toilet
The pit toilet saves people the indignity of scrambling through the forest, burrowing into the brush, risking poison ivy of the ass, and the heart-stopping appearance of a woodland creature to do something that ordinarily requires about a 10-second walk down the hall. It’s… Continue Reading “The Unbelievable Reality of the Pit Toilet”
No Hope, No Baseball
I asked the guy sitting behind us where his buddies were. The three of them have been sitting behind us at baseball games for the past four years. For a while the middle guy, Harry (the only one of them whose name I know)… Continue Reading “No Hope, No Baseball”
Let the Blaming Begin
A shooting in a crowded movie theater gives everyone the excuse they need to climb back up on their favorite soapbox and begin their rant anew. It’s guns! It’s violent video games! It’s the disregard we have for human life! It’s untreated mental illness!… Continue Reading “Let the Blaming Begin”
Lemons
This is one of those blog posts that’s going to get me scolded either by members of my own family or by the dreamy adoption people who believe that God personally selected the child they adopted. I don’t care because the truth of the… Continue Reading “Lemons”
Hot Mess: My High School Reunion
When my old boyfriend came through the door of the hotel where my 40th high school reunion was being held, three girls, wait, three 58-year old women scurried over to quick give me the 411. “Clark’s here.” “He’s right over there.” Shushing and fluttering… Continue Reading “Hot Mess: My High School Reunion”
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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