As the nation recognizes the servicemen and women who gave their lives for us, I remember my husband’s father who kept trying to enlist in WWII but got denied because he was too young. He finally got in right at the end and told stories of the ride on the “liberty ship” from the west…
Category: America
Train ride from … ?
This blog originally appeared at The Roses of Prose where we’ve been exploring movie themes. To check out what my friends are writing, go here. This is a true story. I will use it in fiction some day. Until then, I couldn’t think of a better story to share for this month’s topic. It happened…
Bring back the cat!
I love speed. When I drive, that is. I don’t “speed” in a legal sense, but I love getting off to a quick start and staying ahead of the pack. On an open roadway, I love taking my feisty little Hyundai into a tight, banking curve, keeping her nice and steady until she can slingshot…
Resolutions schmesolutions
I never know in advance what I’m going to write about from week to week. Usually something has to strike me on a deep, emotional level for me to care enough to want to impose my thoughts on “the world.” Some weeks the ideas jump at me from the front pages. Other weeks topics are…
I think I’ve got it!
I think I know how Eliza Doolittle felt on that fateful day when Professor ‘Enry ‘Iggins finally taught her how to vocalize her H’s! It’s that thrill of discovery, that shock of pleasure over a found 5-dollar bill. It comes unexpectedly, often when least expected—that sensation of sheer joy and rightness with the moment. Or…
Come on, people…get a grip!
As I write this, it’s a couple hours into “Cyber Monday,” the great on-line shop-a-looza that follows Black Friday and (something new this year!) Black Saturday…you know, your last chance to shave a few bucks off the perfect gifts for your loved ones, office mates, classmates and teachers…whomever among your circle of acquaintances needs “gifting”…until…
Unhappy is as unhappy does?
I once worked for a very wealthy couple who owned and operated their own business. They lived in a mansion in one of the nicest parts of town, both drove big luxury cars, and sent their kids to the best schools in the country. And when their kids graduated college, they either gave them jobs…
Thank you, New Jersey
New Jersey gets a bad rap. I know that because I spent most of my growing and adult years in the state named for its gardens but known for its highways. It’s the state where I raised my children, the state where I learned to drive, learned to cook (well, sort of), and learned the…
Greed ~ Enough is Enough!
As chaos overtakes Wall Street and cities around the country, and people rail in the streets against “the machine” in all its forms (corporate, financial, governmental), we in the St. James household have tried to maintain a sense of balance. We’ve tried to look at both sides, tried to understand each side’s perspective, and I…
Lessons of 9/11
If you were like me and millions of other Americans, you spent yesterday, the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks on the U.S., remembering the innocents who lost their lives to an evil that was, before that day, unimaginable to most of us. If you were like me, you stopped to remember the brave police,…