Box of one
I recently signed up for Stitch Fix, an online styling service that delivers a monthly “fix” of clothing and accessories through the mail. You fill out a form, and a group of stylists selects several pieces to match your style. While completing the lengthy questionnaire, I pondered my fashion: Am I more a stripes or…
The Old South (Hills)
Nearly a year since my return to the Triangle, memories of my youth (or are they dream-memories?) continue to filter back at irregular and sometimes inopportune times, like a malfunctioning IV. The spaces of youth offer an indefinable sense of spirit and mystery, like architectural interiors in a Borges story. In one moment, I am…
The snake, he dead
There were many clues at first. The usually soft, packed down, pine needle laying nests were often a mess at the end of the day, the chickens were sometimes bunched in the corners of the coop and, the clincher, the missing eggs. On weekends I started going out to the chicken coop at odd hours…
Dad sport
My daughter, Nora, has yet to turn 2, but she already knows three words for television: Elmo, Mickey and, lately, soccer. I began my fifth year as a stay-at-home dad not long ago, meaning that the FIFA World Cup has occurred twice during my domestic shift. In the summer of 2010, my son, Oliver, was…
Group ride
From the seat attached to the back of my bike, my son suddenly yelled “Whoo-hoo!” His voice echoed off the fresh concrete walls of the greenway underpass at Culbreth Road in Chapel Hill. This was our first bike trip since the tunnel opened in early June, and I had been skeptical about the need for…
Motorcycle men
This morning, I dragged a lawn chair into my big dirt driveway, setting it under the broad canopy of oaks that filtered out the sun above. It was early May, but there were few mosquitos, no threat of rain and the air was quite cool. These were good signs, as today was going to be…