Category: Uncategorized
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yard sail
I don’t know about you, but I’m on information overload. I thought a short story might be best for this month. The first to arrive was Mrs. Clenner, from across the street. “I’ll give you eight dollars for this sweater,” said Mrs. Clenner, with the horsy teeth and yappy dog, according to Helen’s mom. “Ten…
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Words: push-ups for our brains, lift-ups for our thoughts
Before I turned eighteen, before I’d read any books about thoughts shaping our beliefs, and before neuroscientists explored the brain’s complex network with magnetic resonance imagining (MRI)–commercially produced in 1980. Before all of this, I silently recited, “I love math” every day as I walked to my math class at a local community college. Every…
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pigs and flakes: infused with ESA and childhood in England
See below for Events and Praise for Pigs and Flakes. Click here for Book Club Questions. Heidi Fedore, retired Puget Sound school administrator, and former English teacher, has observed teenagers for over twenty-seven years and has witnessed the fallout from teen gossip and the resilience of many adolescents. She also has seen how learning about…
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is looking better self-love?
Amid many topics, my friends and I occasionally ponder aging and interventions we’d consider, ranging from facials to cosmetic surgery. We ask questions like, “What would you be willing to do to look better?” No doubt you and your friends ask these kinds of questions, whether you’re thirty or seventy. Our intervention choices are vast.…
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Is bleepin’ cussing necessary?
I’m crawling into a shrub, my shirt dampening with dew from its leaves and my ponytail unraveling in the branches. I’m pulling my Yorkie away from cat feces that he’s attempting to eat, and I’m throwing down a few cuss words. “Cat poo” doesn’t cut it. Neither does “darn it.” I’m carrying my Yorkie away…
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Familiarity: Stifling or Soothing?
“I got a real compliment for you…” “I’m so afraid you’re about to say something awful.” I fell asleep again only to wake up to hear, “My knees go when you turn on the charm full blast.” Exhausted, I missed at least half of the dialogue in this classic Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt movie.…
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When Correspondence Wasn’t Enough
It was 1969, and I sang and twirled and imagined that my dad was sitting in the green, oversized wicker chair in my grandparents’ kitchen listening to a tape recording of Judy Collins. “My father always promised us that we would live in France.” The lyrics, especially from “My Father,” kept my dad, who was…
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take the trick out of the treat
Let’s say you have a bunch of plain, peanut, or almond chocolate bars left over from Halloween. Or let’s say your grandnephew gave you a solid chocolate Harry Potter frog from Disneyland heralding 19 grams of sugar per serving. You can “magically” cut the sugar grams in half by mixing in coconut oil, which touts…
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Lying on a beach might’ve been easier
During recent travels to Vietnam and Cambodia, my sister and I faced surprising challenges to having perspective. You’d think I’d be practiced at this from experiencing a variety of cultures and having worked in education for 28 years, guiding students to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Growing…
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Students choose cheers not jeers
“You suck!” Stomp, stomp. “You suck!” Stomp, stomp. I was seated in front of a group of young people that were joining in this chant set to music blared over the loudspeaker. A chant obviously sanctioned by the sports organization. I thought to myself, “No wonder my job as an administrator supervising sports and spectators…
Fedore Writer 