Having arrived in Lihue, we waited at baggage claim A for our bags. “Why are our bags always last?” Trudy asked, adding in her characteristically optimistic fashion, “They must have been the first ones on!” So we waited. And we waited. And then the carousel stopped. There was no sign of our big yellow duffle or […]
Yearly Archives: 2012
Hawaiian Rainbows
Sat, 21 Apr 2012, 05:02 PM (-06:00)
Wait. When I spoke disparagingly about our seats on the flight from Honolulu to Kauai, I omitted one important point. Yes, for most of the 30 minutes, our view out the left window offered nothing but ocean and whitecaps all the way to Tahiti. But as we turned for Lihue, the plane flew nose first […]
Three Legs to Kauai
Fri, 20 Apr 2012, 09:24 PM (-06:00)
1. Austin to Houston What is there to say about this leg? There’s barely enough time for flight attendants to rush up and down the aisles offering beverages. We were crammed into a United AIrlines Canadair CRJ-700. If the flight attendants went up and down the aisles, I don’t remember it. It was too early in […]
Couldn’t Have Planned It Better
Fri, 20 Apr 2012, 06:24 AM (-06:00)
It was difficult to say goodbye. And it was humbling. When I told them, some folks got a serious look on their face as if to imply, Oh what are we going to do? Some folks gasped. Others offered congratulations. They all were supportive and happy for me (at least as far as I could […]
Something Else
Tue, 17 Apr 2012, 07:58 PM (-06:00)
“You’re killing me man” he said as I stood in the doorway of his office. I had submitted my resignation the week before, but it was spring break, and he was out of town. I had dreaded this conversation. This was the profession I always wanted. These were people I had known and respected for […]
Conjunction
Sun, 11 Mar 2012, 09:34 PM (-06:00)
1. Tonite “Trudy, you have to come see this,” I said, coming in from the backyard. “Is it about the compost?” she asked. “No,” I said and walked back outside. “Wow,” she said, looking at the clear sky. “The stars are bright.” 2. Last Fall Back in the fall, just as it was starting to […]
She Slowed to Look
Sun, 11 Mar 2012, 09:56 AM (-06:00)
1. Confusion came with warm weather and rain. Lantana and Lilies. Cowpen and Four Nerve and Blackfoot Daisies. Salvia and Spiderwort and Prairie Verbena. Ten-petal Anemone and Agarita and Echinacae. Texas Redbud. They all blossomed early, and the yard has exploded in purples and yellows and whites. 2. There is a school girl who walks by our house […]
Ages Were Long
Sun, 4 Mar 2012, 07:33 PM (-06:00)
“Do you remember when your father died?” “Yes,” my father said, looking up with wide eyes. “That was two days before my master’s results came in. He never got to see them.” “That was May 1950,” he added. “My father was very old. In his 80s at least, perhaps more.” He was quiet for a […]
Waiting for the Train to Bareilly
Sat, 3 Mar 2012, 11:06 PM (-06:00)
“Hah!” my father chuckled. His eyes sparkled and he was smiling. “All these details come back…” “When my family took me to the train station, they took me in a bullock cart.” He looked at me with wide eyes when he said the words, bullock cart. “And I was very tired when the left me. […]
Abdul Khaliq
Sat, 3 Mar 2012, 10:56 PM (-06:00)
We wanted Abdul Khaliq to go to school . We wanted him to go the the same school I had gone to. To the government high school that was taught in English. But the headmaster said no. He said there was no room. We decided to take our case to the Secretary of Education, because you […]