Diner Destiny

January 29, 2021January 28, 2021 / roughwighting / 147 Comments

A milkshake is plopped down in front of me just as I decide to skedaddle. How can I possibly enjoy this guilty pleasure when my boss, the head of the English Department, the man I’ve crushed on for ten years, is sitting at the diner counter like a solitary cowboy with his gun (well in this case his silver pen) cocked and ready for battle? (click here to see Part I, Diner Dilemma) Continue reading →

The Diner Dilemma

January 22, 2021January 21, 2021 / roughwighting / 140 Comments

I never go to diners because I’m always on a diet. At 49 years of age, you’d think I – Dr. Pauline Limone – would be tired of trying to reshape myself, and my body, into something it’s not.

But no. this month I’m on the OEG diet, the biggest fad going on at the college where I teach. I don’t think the students know of this diet. They’re too busy snacking on Ring Dings and getting drunk on mojitos every Friday night. Continue reading →

Snow Angel

January 15, 2021January 14, 2021 / roughwighting / 150 Comments

I hate winter. I hate snow. I hate cold, I hate ice. I mutter these words as I climb out of my soul-less and hateful car, which has just broken down on Route 2 in the middle of a once-in-a-decade blizzard.

I can’t stay in the car because the engine is dead. Kaput. Lifeless and useless. I’ll freeze if I sit in the silver-metal icebox, so I trudge ahead, looking for some kind of sign of life.

And then I see it. Or her. Or whatever he/she/it/they is. A human-like form of gossamer silver and white, waving towards me. She (for I tend to think of angels as she), is either one-half a mile away, or two yards. With the snow whipping across my face it’s hard to tell. Continue reading →

Take a BREATH with BOOKS

January 8, 2021January 9, 2021 / roughwighting / 156 Comments

Let’s start with the Pretty Things of the past year. In January and February, most of us saw no Signs of what was to become. In fact, as 2020 began I hoped that love and kindness would become The Signature of All Things.

February found me believing that I was at Such a Fun Age. I became The Sun Sister, jumping in the ocean with the humpback whales on The (Hawaiian) Island, staring in awe at The Starless Sea as my guy and I hiked cliffs and beaches. The near future was Hid from Our Eyes. Continue reading →