A Revised Approach

Good Monday morning!

I've been thinking over the weekend about how to make this blog more interesting (aside from a more colorful layout), and one conclusion I reached is this: make it a space where anyone who reads can contribute something original, if s/he wants.

Then we could all notice and appreciate what each of us has to say. What do you think? If you want to contribute, just email your contribution to me, and I'll post it so that other readers can appreciate it (and share their comments about it).

In the spirit of getting it started, I thought I'd put in a couple of short pieces I wrote while my husband Tim and I were camping in Corpus Christi, Texas, last March.

Here goes.

Hot, Savory Soup!

The poster in the café entices with a warm image of a gourmet soup topped with delectable carrots, potatoes, and herbs.

The bowl is one of those pottery bowls like what you’d find in a Crate & Barrel store or Pier 1 Import store. The spoon looks substantial and is glows with a burnished silver highlight.

I think, “Man, that looks good right now.” Even though I’m not hungry and have just finished a slice of chocolate chunk cherry cheesecake, I think it’s appealing.

Maybe it’s because it’s cold in Texas today. I was cold all night long last night, and it rained too. This morning when I get out of bed at 10:15, I see that the computer is covered in a layer of silt. It’s nasty.

This place is so dirty! I’m beginning to wish that we hadn’t chosen to camp on this trip. Scratch that. I’m way past the beginning. I really wish we hadn’t chosen to camp. It sucks. Everything is dirty and full of Chase hair. We can’t stand up in any of the 3 domes of our tent because the air mattress is in the tallest one. The others just aren’t tall enough to stand up in anyway and I’m too claustrophobic to sleep on our gi-normous air mattress in one of the smaller domes.

The soup is really calling my name. I’m just wishing that I could be warm again. That’s funny, because I usually am always warm. Too warm. But I think that last night’s rain and cool temperatures overnight made me cold and I feel chilled to the bone, even now.

I’m wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans, but I’m still cold. Weird.

Here's the second one.

I’m a sophomore in college. I’m standing behind the curtain on stage in Kerux Auditorium.

”Wish I could catch my breath,” I think.

I hear someone say my name and I’m really nervous now, but the curtain’s opening and I have to smile and walk out to the podium.

“Man, I hope I don’t fall or anything,” I think. “I hope I don’t look too fat or too much like a dork.”

I walk to the podium and look to my right. My friend Brenda is at the grand piano waiting for my signal. I nod, and she starts to play the introduction.

“Catch your breath! Or you’ll sound all shaky!” I think.

I open my mouth and start to sing. It’s pretty breathy, so I try to think about the words I’m singing and look at the students in the audience without getting distracted.

By the time it’s over, my voice has behaved. I walk back behind the curtain while some older people in the audience say “Amen” in monotone voices.

Later, while I’m walking to class, somebody stops me on the sidewalk and says how much they enjoyed my song. “You sing like a bird,” they say.

I think, “That’s not a compliment. Who wants to sound like a bird?” but I smile and say thank you before I walk away.

Well, that's my contribution for today. Dorothy among the Munchkins, I know you're a heck of a writer, and so are you, Joy.

Let the games begin!