BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… THE BITTER MARCH WIND. The bitter March wind stirs the red oak leaves on the hillside, leaf litter heavy in the late afternoon. The sky has cleared, temperature dropping quickly. Thankfully, the cab of my F-150 is warm as I navigate the going-home traffic. I turn the wheel north, north through the…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… UNDERWORLD GAINS. It’s late. I’m tired. I’m hungry. At least the gym is playing Hozier on the speakers. I shrug. It is the end of the month, the last chance for any personal records in February. I’m already sore. The six plates of iron loaded on the bar are not going anywhere.…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… THE TOWN WITH MANY DOORS. The name of the town is not important. There are too many, too many small towns, too many names gone, too many memories lost in the cold waters of time. The fact that it was once my town is not important either, only that those cold, lost…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… ROSES IN A DARK ROOM. A dark bedroom, a single light. The lamp was a strange thing, heavily weighted, long, spindly neck, rough black charcoal-like texture of hood and base, the lamp of a mid-century engineer with a black briefcase and shoes buffed until persistently reflective. But engineering was a world away,…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… CAKE, ICE, FOG. It was so foggy the black night I drove home across bleak Illinois prairies and into dark Illinois woods. The thick fog obscured red tail lights, white snow-packed ice, even stop signs. West central Illinois is a different sort of place, a place where the folklore of a lost…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… MOLLY KATHLEEN. The dogs in the barn barked that bright morning as I was sitting at the dining room table, open notebook before me, scholastic workbooks stacked to my right. My mom threw dishtowel over shoulder and walked to the front room windows, frowning. Someone was walking up the driveway. I was…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… BLACK PHILLIP. In the bleak conclusion of Robert Eggers’ film The Witch, the big black billy goat fatally gores the ever-angry Puritan father. The goat then transforms into the devil, seducing teenage daughter Thomasin and leading her into the forest to become a witch. I don’t feel bad about spoiling the ending.…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… OUR VERY OWN OZARK HOWLER The phone rang and I answered, made curious by the California area code. “Is this Joshua with StateotheOzarks?” Yes, it is. “Are you familiar with Ozarks lore? Yes, I am. “Can you get us in touch with someone who has seen the Ozark Howler?” Wait, what? It…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… JUST A BUNCH OF BULLY GOATS. The sun was warm that spring day in the barn yard and I was tending some 20 goats of all sizes, ages and temperaments. I loved the barn. I loved the goats and would much rather be out in the barn wallowing around with whatever baby…
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT…. GOING DOWN TO EGYPT. The dark-haired boy is bent over blank white paper, black-and-red flannel obscuring a thin and insecure frame. His desk is dark brown, dark brown like his eyes, eyes like his father’s. The desk is handmade by his grandpa, pine impossible to scratch beneath layers of resin laminate. This…