After being laid off late Monday afternoon, I arrived home, jotted a short list of things I have wanted to do for months but could not find the time for, then stretched across my couch under a warm blanket and…
On a tenth grade history exam, I was asked to list four factors that led to the start of World War I. I remember writing, “The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand,” on the first blank line. It was one of the…
After getting a phone call that my on the job training would be postponed another week, I decided I deserved a long weekend away. The default day-trip for most people living in western North Carolina is a drive out to…
A week before my most recent marathon, the weather app on my phone predicted rain for race day. I grimaced thinking it would be my second time running the Asheville Marathon on Biltmore Estate in bad weather. The first year…
I did not want to go to another job interview. After two months of answering questions like, “Tell me about a time you almost didn’t meet a deadline, but did,” homelessness seemed a reasonable alternative to another forty-five minutes of…
Teachers boast about years teaching a certain subject, a certain grade, or for a certain school system. Seniority keeps the kids under control, sometimes, as long as you look older and carry yourself with the no-nonsense authority students secretly crave.…
On Thursdays I don’t have to be at work until early afternoon. After three morning shifts earlier in the week, I always view the late start as an endless stretch of opportunity. Before getting out of bed I plan all…
A month ago I sat across from my twice-former housemate and told her I was thinking about moving again for what would be the fifth time in less than a year. “Are you moving toward or away?” she asked. “Away,”…
For the past few months I’ve been rehearsing the newsletter I planned to send out with a belated apology for not writing and an announcement that I wouldn’t be writing here for the foreseeable future. Saturday though something shifted and…
After moving four times in six months I’m ready to dig my feet into the dirt and stay grounded for a good long while; however, if I do need to move again it will be much smoother than the start.…