Dancing at the Crossroads
2015
Saint Paul is my chosen home, the place where I feel most deeply that I belong. Now. It has not always been so.
Letter to the Lady Who Fell
2015
I'm sorry you fell Tuesday night, a little after 8 p.m. I hope you're okay. Your husband looked mighty upset when you fell.
What’s in a Name?
2015
“All over (America), Negro boys and girls are growing into stunted maturity, trying desperately to find a place to stand, and the wonder is not that so many are ruined—but that so many survive!”
JAMES BALDWIN 1955
The Drive
2015
Not wanting to alarm my husband and infant son, in case they’ve fallen back asleep, I don’t call. I don’t even text. But I do take a picture with my camera-phone, because I need proof that I’ve done it, that I’m actually here: sitting in a 2005 toyota Matrix, outside the Saint anthony Park library. this is incredible.
In Praise of Aging
2015
In praise of buses rattling through the streets
In praise of passengers jostling for a seat
In praise of a transfer I didn’t need to buy
In praise of snow falling from the sky, and my down coat
Bought secondhand but warm
Silverheels
2015
It was my mom’s first marriage proposal. At eight, she was the older woman. George was only six. After hasty consideration, Mom turned him down. As she explained to her mother, she couldn’t marry George. He liked carrots. She didn’t.
Of Arthur “Chan” McWatt (March 10, 1926–April 3, 2012)
2015
Saint Paul recently lost one of its most sterling examples of what it means to be a responsible, useful, and compassionate citizen. That individual was Arthur Chandler McWatt.
Home Is Knowing the Path to Her Door
2015
I laughed out loud when Bobbie finally confided to me the thought that struck her when she first heard my voice on the phone: “Oh, Lord. Another white woman looking for a Black care provider for her Black child.”
Graphic Memoir
2015
THE ARTIST PATRICIA OWEN worked for the Peace Corps in Senegal. “They give you a mission, and when you get there, you find one for yourself.
A Misty Dream of Glacial Saint Paul
2015
For the past few summers, I have led geology tours around the Twin Cities for community education courses. The tours usually involve features such as caves, springs, and waterfalls.
The Restaurants of Frogtown
2015
Left everything. Left Laos in ’78. Followed a husband following Vang Pao.
Bird in Hand
2015
MY NEIGHBOR DEREK LUSCHE was seeking the center of gravity in his new bird sculpture. “I am going to hang it and maybe make it part of a mobile.”