It’s three in the morning. I’m standing in my kitchen, staring down 70 pounds of tomatoes and 35 pounds of onions, all awaiting their destiny in a year’s supply of tomato sauce. Lined up next to the basement stairs are 40 pounds of green beans, already chopped and neatly canned in quart jars. August doesn’t […]
Archives for August 2014
Boundaries
“Mom, there’s something I have to tell you,” Ula’s eyes were wide with distress as she kneeled at her kitchen chair. I had made her shredded zucchini with a marinara meat sauce, one of her favorite August meals. She wasn’t touching it. That worried me. “What is it sweetie?” I reached over and […]
The Retention Bonus
“Say, the price for your brisket isn’t bad,” the man said as he glanced over the list at our farmers’ market stall, “when you consider how much you get paid for your steaks!” I tried not to let it get to me. In spite of the barb, it had been a decent market day, and […]
Normal: A Drama
NORMAL: ACT I, SCENE I: I don’t play the part of “normal mom” very well, nor do I play it very often. Saoirse and Ula have been trained to sleep in, to afford me as many quiet pre-dawn silent work hours as possible. If they step into my office before 7:30 in […]