Being polite, walking that shifting line that is somewhere between standoffish and slightly weird, is a tricky business. When I was a teenager, I worked at the local gas station/convenience store for a while. My co-worker Rosetta often entertained the rest of us with stories. One time she told us about her nephew Shelley, who […]
Category: From Powhatan to Alaska: Cosmic Connections
For when I happen across a parallel between life in my two favorite places
The weather gods have a sense of humor
Well, sometimes it does snow in Southeast Alaska, despite what I have been saying these many years. I went out this morning to dig out my mother-in-law’s van, scraping wet-cement-style snow, until my nephew, as kind as he is strong, came from down the street to help. I was scraping as loudly as possible, so […]
Ice and snow, but no midnight sun
Remember when John Carter* went to Mars, and the Tharks decided his name was “Virginia”? They would shout, “VAA-JINN-YAAA!” in their huge Thark voices. Carter would gently roll his eyes and say, “My name is John Carter. I am from Virginia.” “Yes!” The Tharks would shout, waving their four green arms with gleeful abandon. “VAA-JINN-YAAA!” […]