Creative Nonfiction
Walking around the local pond, I wasn’t expecting much when I sat on a bench under a tree. Turtles slowly surface to pop up their heads for air, while their bodies stay submerged. Schools of tiny fish play near the surface, occasionally splashing the water with circular ripples left behind. Then, the waterfowl arrive. And things get interesting.
Not every boardwalk in the U.S. is protected by a Roman god. Virginia Beach is different. And people notice. “Most sculptures disappoint people when they’re unveiled,” a Virginia Beach woman told me. “But not this one. We’re really proud of that sculpture.” She was here when the sculpture was unveiled and loves it, she said.... Continue Reading →
Going to the beach on a cold, midweek early morning, before all the schools had gotten out for the year, meant a beach largely to myself. A perfect time to explore the shoreline as no one was brave enough to be swimming or playing near the water. What I found both enchanted and repulsed me.... Continue Reading →
Moving to the South 25 years ago meant an adjustment to the heat, humidity and creatures of my new home. In other words, little reptiles are everywhere.
Have you ever woken up missing someone’s music? That happened to me the other day when I first opened my eyes and needed to hear Chuck Mangione’s smooth melodies. My connection to Chuck Mangione’s music goes back to the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. I fell in love with his sound – a mellow, warmth... Continue Reading →
“I’m spending too much money on rocks,” I said to a friend. She told me that rocks were free, and I could find them outside. “Not these rocks,” I said. “Not where I live.” Pyrite cubes in the matrix. Photo by Karen M. Free I may have had a slight rock addiction for about nine... Continue Reading →
When a childhood friend asked me to walk the pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River during a visit back to New York, I was excited thinking about the beautiful views I would see. I only knew it as the abandoned railroad bridge. After we moved out of Poughkeepsie in 1987 to find a less expensive... Continue Reading →
When a friend gave me three canna lily bulbs, I had no idea what insect-avian-mammal conflicts lay ahead. I planted them next to my patio. They blossomed in a few months, stood 6 feet tall and had large, tubular, red flowers. Photo by Emi More on Pexels.com The bees came first and worked methodically, moving... Continue Reading →
When the world disorients me, I instinctively go back to basics – like a child learning how to name objects. On my evening walk the other day, which is not so much for exercise, but an attempt to clear my head with a walking meditation, I heard myself labeling. I looked down. “This is the... Continue Reading →
One of the last gifts my dog gave me was a lesson in leisurely strolling. No longer energized with a youthful bounce in her steps, she walked in slow, rigid movements. Arthritis and assorted ailments had changed her pace, but not her excitement about life. When she was a puppy, she was a sort of... Continue Reading →
Not every rock album is memorable decades after it is first released. Bat Out of Hell is one album I will never forget. The local rock station played “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” a lot in the early 1980s and my mom always cranked it up when it came on the car radio. I wondered... Continue Reading →
I had gotten used to seeing wildlife during long walks with my dog — rabbits, ducks, geese, turtles, lizards, frogs and snakes. But I had never come across a chicken. Not until one December morning in 2019. It was 6:30, before sunrise and the parking lot was still full of cars. The street lights were... Continue Reading →
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Have you ever gone to a café, ordered coffee and the sole employee tells you that the coffee at the café up the street is better? That’s what happened to me recently when a friend and I went to a café on the main street of a university town in... Continue Reading →
Remarkable isn’t a word I typically use to describe a person. Especially someone I didn’t personally know. But over the last 50 years, I felt like I knew Betty White. She had that way about her. Her smile and that sparkle in her eyes. It wasn’t just the sitcoms and the game shows. It was... Continue Reading →
It’s not every day I get to see my beloved grandmother acting outrageous. That was my thought when I stumbled on this picture of my grandmother from 1969. It was so out of the prim and proper image I hold in my mind of her. She always looked so classy in her dresses, makeup, and... Continue Reading →
Karen M. Free 