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Homemade
I could get the store brand or the stick of dough wrapped in plastic. It was heavy. Natural ingredients. No lard. European. I got two. Continue reading
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Auroville: A Place Unto Itself
The experience defies description. Utter calm, utter peace. Until someone belches, or sneezes, or farts. Continue reading
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A Hero on Board
But where there’s lack of safety, there’s usually a hero nearby. Continue reading
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How I Learned
My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Hume, wore horn-rimmed glasses and dark dresses. I remember little else about her, except that she placed me in the bluebird reading group and seemed very old. The year was 1960, an election year. Even though I was only six years old, I was aware that two men, Kennedy and Nixon,… Continue reading
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The Trouble Tree
I found an old journal entry from several decades back. At that time I was exploring the language of the natural world while wrestling with love problems, work challenges, self-doubt, and general heaviness in my life. The setting is the Southwest, among sandstone boulders and cavorting ravens and a canyon head and high desert vegetation.… Continue reading
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My Journey of Lost Memories
I stood hanging on to my shopping cart, mind blank. A fog had descended. I stared at the guy in front of me, picking through vegetables. I remember him, because on the back of his navy blue shirt were the letters, “EMS.” I would meet him a little later. “Can I help you find something?”… Continue reading
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My Mom’s Criminal Past
Earlier this year my 96-year-old mother passed away. Mom assigned me to tell this story at her funeral services. When I was a girl she and Dad had bought a small farm in Indiana, where on weekends he enjoyed playing farmer and she enjoyed out-fishing her husband. The kids fooled around mostly—we swam and fished… Continue reading
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A Second Chance
I rescued the quivering ball of fur from the jaws of my cat. Its tiny head stuck out of one side of Coco’s mouth, a grey tail trailed from the other side. I wasn’t even sure he had anything, but as I followed him on our evening walk, he had crouched and flicked his tail.… Continue reading
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Grandmother
I don’t know why I pulled away. I had tried to get the old woman’s photo the day before, and the day before that. Right then was the perfect opportunity. She was practically inviting me to snap her portrait. “Vanga!” creaked her voice. But I acted as though I didn’t understand her welcome. Everyone watching… Continue reading
Terry Nichols 