Once upon a time I was a new mother. It was before body positivity, before athletes and models came in all shapes and sizes (though I admit we still have a long […]
My Last Bikini
To Mask, or Not to Mask?
This made me wonder if, at some point, we’re going to become a society of “the masked vs. the unmasked.” If so, how will we be viewed? Will the masked be applauded? Ostracized? And will the opposite happen to the unmasked? Which way is society going to go?
Flash Nonfiction “His Apple Pie”–a dog, a pie, a bad guy
I’m proud and happy to announce my flash nonfiction essay, “His Apple Pie,” about a border collie and a bad guy, appeared today in Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. For […]
Gazing into My Crystal Ball, or Life Post-Coronavirus
Now, more than ever, it seems important for U.S. citizens to be skeptical about the information we receive from the media. As has been demonstrated in study after study, we as humans […]
Ice Storm Quarantine
Nearly every spring when I was a kid in the 1970s, growing up on a horse farm in rural central Illinois, we had ice storms. Often they came in the late afternoon, […]
Corona: I Hear You Knocking But You Can’t Come In
If she were one of the ones in the ER, which line would she go on? The left one that lives or the right that dies.
Lessons from Nana
In 1918, my great-grandmother, Frances Pengelski, was married with two babies under two years old, living in relative poverty in Brooklyn. I was fortunate to know my nana well. The year I […]
Spaying and Neutering: It’s a Dog’s Life
“But it is an emergency,” I want to say, or rather wail, as the woman on the other end of the phone says goodbye. No, this isn’t about COVID-19 or any other […]
Cherish, Dream, Live
I have been in absolute panic mode now for almost a full week. The health scares in the news are perfectly designed to hit dead-center in the Venn diagram that comprise my […]
Five Things Driving Has Taught Me About How to Take Things Less Personally
When I drive, I tend not to take things personally. Interestingly, my practice in doing this on the road translates very well into how not to take things personally in my life.
The Gloria Sirens 