Hey, what's that? Shoot it!

Dad and Kris were in the back yard shooting clay pigeons. They used a shotgun or a 22 or something—my knowledge of these things does not run deep. Whatever the weapon of choice was, I was intrigued. I watched from my window as Kris loaded yellow pigeons into the red, ‘c’ shaped launcher and flung them through the air. Dad waited, gun pointing up at the sky, butt or handle—or whatever the back end is called—resting against his shoulder. He cocked his head to the side, squinted his eye, and squeezed the trigger. Pow. The clay disc broke into...

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Six Sentence Sunday

The beautiful blue sky turns black as smoke rises into the air. Mothers cry out for their children, husbands for their wives. A shrill scream comes from a child standing alone. Men and women both run for her, but they aren’t fast enough. I watch as the child is torn, limb-from-limb. “Kate, shut up, please, just shut up,” Brit says, her voice trembling....

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Guest Blog: 120Socks

I have another wonderful friend visiting from Ireland. Louise Phillips—you may know her better as 120socks—has recently finished her first novel, blogs about everything from romantic poetry to red stilettos and is one of the greatest Twitter friends I’ve made so far. So grab your coffee because you’re about to be transported to her home in Ireland as she shares her writing rituals with us. You may want to bring a sweater, too; I hear it’s chilly...

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Alligator

School was out and Kris and I were bored. To top it off, we were home alone in the middle of nowhere. Some days life seemed to drag on. Especially this day. The air was hot, the trailer hotter. We couldn’t bear to be indoors any longer, so we decided to go fishing. Bait was easy; we dug in the mud around the pond until we came up with hands full of mudpuppies. I left it to Kris to secure the squiggly little creatures to our hooks. After attaching my bobber and weight, I cast my line. My competitive spirit had me jittering from head to toe. I...

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Snoring

Today is Friday. The weather clear and cool. The bright orange sun peeked over the horizon while I wound my way along the country roads. Then I hit I-95 and realized my gas tank needed a fill. Okay, no big deal. Stopped at the nearest diesel station, filled my Jetta with stinky, greasy fuel, then made my way to the commuter lot. There was a line. Okay, again, no big deal. I played with my phone, caught up on some blogs, deleted fifty e-mails I received overnight and checked Twitter. Twenty minutes later, a couple guys got in my car. I cracked...

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Guest Blog: Michelle Moloney

Irish American Memories Growing up on a farm near Cashel, Co. Tipperary in the 80s was kinda boring. At least that is what we thought. We lived for the summers, the chance of a fine day, Sunday drives, walks on the beech but the main thing we hoped for was tourists. Every summer we would see the Americans walk around the town with a cool swagger. We could spot them a mile away, they wore cream slacks (which they called pants), they wore baseball hats and sun glasses (no-one in Ireland ever wore sun glasses in the 80s unless they were famous.)...

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Kid #3

Last night kid #3 did something fascinating—actually it was disturbing, but noteworthy. As I slaved over a hot stove for my family, my throat became parched. Desperate for a cold drink, I rushed to the freezer with my cup and didn’t care when a couple pieces of ice crashed to the floor. Guzzling my diet coke, I enjoyed every bit of the aspartame filled drink as it washed away the sandy desert in my mouth. (Did I mention I was going a little over-the-top for this story? If not, I apologize; I’m in a nutty mood.) The piggy little sounds I was...

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Texas Tornado

The chill released its grip on Texas and gave way to unsettled skies. Thunderstorms rolled across the flat landscape, bringing with them black clouds, lightning and worst of all tornadoes. At school we’d practice for these disasters by walking into the hall in a single file line and curling into a ball by our lockers. I used to wonder what good this would do; at each end of the hall were double glass doors, but according to whoever was in charge this was the safest place for us to be. There was no plan at home. I was with my parents one sunny...

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The Best Laid Plans

My family was supposed to have a three-day weekend full of fun and excitement. Water parks and NASCAR races were at the top of our to-do lists. Thursday night we were so excited we packed our bags in advance of our trip and could barely sleep. Friday was a long day, but I left work early to get a quick oil change in my car before our almost three-hundred mile car trip to Pennsylvania. I had a two-thirty appointment. Plenty of time to get in, get out, get lunch and get home before four so we could hit the road early. Two and a half hours later. My...

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Apples and Trees

Over the weekend my husband and I loaded up our kids—and his mom—and drove out to the Fredericksburg Fair. It’s a staple of our summer and a small event before the Virginia State Fair in September.The kids love strolling through the petting zoos. For a dollar the attendant gave us a bag of thin-sliced carrots and we’d stop every few feet to allow some greedy goat to eat one from our hand. Then we browsed through the prize winning chicken and rabbit section, every other cage answering Abby’s request for a new pet the same way: No.Temperatures in...

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Thin Ice

It was November and Texas had been overtaken by an unseasonable cold snap. Temperatures dipped into the thirties and below. Sleet was the talk of the week and the thin layer of ice on our pond clouded any good judgment Kris and I had.Two curious kids—who’d seen way too many cartoons with children ice-skating on frozen ponds—had an idea . . . a dangerous idea. We were going to race each other to the center.We bundled up in our warmest outfits, told our parents exactly where we were going—just not what we were doing—then walked down to the pond,...

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