memoir
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Bearded Ladies, Angels, and Sweat
“I caught myself staring at a man/woman with a suspicious looking beard. It was painted on his/her face–a face that looked decidedly feminine.” Continue reading
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Snake Blessing
“I trailed the snake fifty feet to a juniper at the corner of the building. Beneath the tree it curled its ungainly body into a corkscrew, raised its head, and fastened its eyes on me, its tail doing a rattle dance.” Continue reading
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Patterns
Dylan comes inside. “What’s the problem? You’re making this a lot harder than it is.” He bats the unit a couple times, pulls out the accordion wings. “There. Screw it in. Done.” Continue reading
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Wrestling a Jackfruit
A battle ensued. The individual edible flowers were interconnected with “tendons” that anchored them to the spiky peel and pithy center, and I had to slice and tug and rip and curse to get the flowers out. Continue reading
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Dancing Like Shirley
“No way!” I screamed inside. “No way you’re getting this mature lady on stage with all these experienced tappers, performing in front of a live audience.” Continue reading
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Whoopee!
Aunt Lily was portly and white-crowned–the sweetest thing, and she was family, who deserved respect. Time to bring out the whoopee cushion. Continue reading
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Belly Dance Debut
I looked at our geriatric audience. Most were in wheelchairs. One woman was snoozing with her mouth open. Another was strangely gurgling. Continue reading
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Song Blessing in Madurai
The woman I’d met just ten minutes earlier smiled, lowered her eyelids, and began to sing–from a place that transcended the human who sat beside me. Continue reading
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Where Was I at Age 23?
I couldn’t go back home. Living with parents was not appealing. I heard a whisper: go west, Terry, go west. Continue reading
Terry Nichols 