That was a long summer—you know the sort: a heatwave we thought would never end, days we thought would never end. After the brouhaha died down, I swore myself to silence. I was eleven years old. It was a few months after my grandmother had died, and later I would understand it as the year […]

For joy I could embrace the earth. I shall delight to be buried in it. —Henry David Thoreau “I wish to discuss matters of the heart,” Calvin Greene said. Ellery Channing winced. So this was what it was all about. This after Greene had produced his copy of Channing’s Thoreau: The Poet-Naturalist, lauded Channing’s decision […]

That new moon night, Elena ran toward the door of the house and grabbed her grandmother Carmen’s hand. Her fingers sank into a soft layer of loose skin. She could feel the old woman’s tendons and bones shifting with an almost rigid quality. She did not let go even though the woman gave a small […]

On Monday Grant experienced another episode of vertigo. This one lasted much longer than the rest. The whole world was spinning, a top that increasingly wobbled as the whirling went on for several minutes. This time closing his eyes didn’t help. He struggled to get into his reading chair without falling over. As it had […]