Yes and No

And then I worked in a room where the lesson was “expressing yes and no.” Conventional, boring kids express yes and no some time between prenatal somersaults and the minute they can turn their heads. These kids I was with, they were unconventional. Some had Down’s, some had autism, one had a traumatic brain injury. […]

Up

I did not know my philosophy of rock climbing, but it turns out it is: this can’t happen. We can’t fall, not just because we don’t want to get hurt, but because we don’t have any health insurance. Grin. Yes, I agreed to go, and yes, I assumed my companions would shame me into performing […]

Together

I planned to work on my piece for the reading the next day, eat a nice dinner, but instead I lay down and I did not get up. I took two advil ever two hours, and still my jaw beat and streamed with pain. I found some old mouthwash and swished with it. Over and […]

Truth

Two people told me the truth this week. I was at an organizing meeting for the March for Our Lives– that’s March 24 at noon at Theiss Park, kids– and someone said, “You can’t use the same model for a new situation, you always have to build a new model,” and I nodded at the […]