The Late Arrival

And there we were, traveling a private, winding road up through a mountain forest. At times, the car was at a 70 degree angle as we whizzed along at 80MPH. I sat buckled in, tense and frustrated at my dad's reckless driving and at myself for taking a first-time road trip with him and my step-mom to his birthplace. This Milwaukee born and raised girl was now in Alabama. Rural Alabama. For the first time. Now before we began the journey on the endless upward winding road, I was scoping out the little southern town's idea of hotels. Since there wasn't a diamond star rated hotel within the vicinity, I decided the motel with a blinking neon VACANCY sign would have to suffice. I'll take it! It'd be enough for me to retire on my own to someplace solitary after meeting this side of the family, giving hugs and recognizing traces of myself and my dad in their faces. After endless, winding and climbing, the car slowed, entered a thicket and there it was, my aunt...

Funny how we hang onto relationships, habits, things…one-sided conversations when words spoken tumble through the air and waft like a feather into un-hearing. That’s how I feel about you. I’m hanging onto you. I throw stray thoughts – some spoken, some unspoken – in your direction. You know what I’m talking about: the thoughts and mumblings that pop up on birthdays, holidays and the in between spaces. And you respond with annoying silence and a comforting steadiness. I imagine the stories you could tell about the nervous first-time mother who picked you – you specifically – just because you were you. Nearly sixty years ago, that first-time mother picked you because you didn’t have sharp corners. She’d later say you were perfect because you were just the right height to support little people who’d be liable to fall at any moment and gentle enough to break the inevitable falls without damage. Three babies followed the first and I wonder what conversations you heard that m...

This marks the 6th day of my participation in NaBloPoMo - or National Blog Posting Month. What it means is that I, along with thousands of other bloggers, are posting something EVERY DAY in November. It's no small task and, frankly, my brain is a little bit tweaked. So what helps when a brain is tweaked? TELEVISION does. And that's what I'm posting about today. ******************** There’s something about the solitude of home when everyone, including the dog, is asleep. That's when the dark sky brings a peculiar comfort as it settles on everything it touches. So tonight, I’ll cocoon myself in a plush blanket with laptop or cell phone in reach and channel surf until sleep arrives. Now that I think about it, I’ve always been a late-night loner who kept close company with TV. Especially during high school, that whole innocent time before boyfriends that never should have been boyfriends, two drinks over what should have been drunk, marriage, babies and pet...