Carrie on

            “Damned coyotes.” Clifton Ellis followed the blood trail from the sheep shed with no hope of finding the stolen lamb. The ewe bleated, unconsoled. In a terrified frenzy, she’d trampled the lamb’s twin during the coyotes’ last visit. Now, she was alone within the flock.

Kids will be kids. Boys will be boys. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just messing around. He knew I was just joking. She knew I was just kidding. Awe, come on. Lighten up. Where’s your sense of humor? Whatever. I’m tired. Relentless bullies. Hurtful words. Violence. On the Internet. On the news. In the hallway. The negativity compiles and compresses. I feel my spirit weaken, and honestly, sometimes I feel like giving up. But doing what’s right is rarely easy, and I don’t believe that any of us were put on this planet just to give up. If I’m anything, I’m an idealist. I’m not naive, but I do believe that we are meant to strive for a higher standard--one in which kindness is absolute and bullying isn’t accepted as part of the norm. Thoreau said, "How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." I think about that most nights when I settle into my chair to write. Who am I to write about anything? I can’t tell you. I’m a terrible speller. I kno...

Our daughter climbed into my lap, restless in the wooden pews after the hymn, she wriggled, making it difficult for me to tell for sure until in a moment of stillness. Head lice. Round two. I settled my own long hair back over my shoulders, tilting her forward on my lap, but the itch of knowing had already settled upon me. We drove to the pharmacy to purchase a two pack of delousing formula and spent the day stripping, washing, bagging, and vacuuming all over again. Logically, my next inclination was to tell everyone I could, “HEY! HEAD LICE OVER HERE! WATCH OUT!” It never occurred to me to be ashamed, (of what exactly?), embarrassed (again, ?), or quiet (what? WHY?) If someone else’s child had it, wouldn’t I want to know (yes!), after all, if I had known, we wouldn’t be in this mess (AGAIN) now would we? Have you ever dealt with head lice? First of all, they aren’t white dots, obvious to the eye like I’d thought for thirty some years of my life. The nits (gross) are translu...

An indoor pool  is the ultimate amenity, for my kids anyway. These days,  I prefer a complimentary [hot] breakfast that’s served until at least 11:00 a.m. and a micro-mini-fridge-combo.  Oh, and a late check out, please. Thank you. But, when I was a kid, the key to a perfect vacation was scoring a motel with a coin slot bolted to a formica topped wood grain nightstand. Oh the thrill! The only disappointment came in having to wait for my sister’s turn to end so that I could have my go, unless there were in fact two Magic Fingers double beds! An alien red heat lamp in the bathroom equalled serious bonus points. I’d turn the knob as far as it would go, twisting beyond the possible 60 minutes, and sit on the toilet seat absorbing the dry hot ticks, one by one….until someone else needed the bathroom and my trance was broken. Our bed vibrates like it has Magic Finger technology, which it doesn’t because it’s 2015, we’re at home--not a motel, and  it’s just a standard ...