Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

I recently attended a local writing festival hosted by the low residency MFA program at OSU-Cascades. We don’t get a lot of writing related events in Central Oregon, so I was super excited to see this one pop up. The first session was held at our local library. It featured readings from MFA staff as well as a graduate of the program who has gone on to be published. It was interesting in that most of the readers read unpublished work, stuff they are working on, instead of from a published book they could be promoting. Even the graduate read some fresh work along with something from her brand new book. Then they held a panel and we got to ask questions about stuff like inspiration and intent and other deep things. Then we scurried across town to the OSU-Cascades campus for the second class. This was the class I was most interested in. It was about adding empathy to your writing. I’m a pretty no-nonsense person. I feel each person is responsible for themselves, their...

My son stopped by after work the other day. He works really early hours and is off by about 9:00 a.m. He walked into the house, greeted my husband and I, and all the animals, grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down at the dining table with his earbuds in, and ate. He had an appointment later in the morning and didn't want to drive all the way home just to turn around and come all the way back. That's cool. I left for work shortly after that, but I realized as I drove away that I was grinning. I mean, I love my son, he's got a wicked sense of humor, but why was I grinning? That's when it hit me. I didn't have that kind of relationship with my mom, even though I considered us close. I still needed to call and arrange to see her. I'm pretty certain I knocked instead of walking right in. Don't get me wrong, the formality never bothered me. She respected my privacy when I lived at home and always knocked before entering my room and wasn't a snoop. But we ...

Two years ago, as my son readied himself to graduate high school, I wrote a commencement speech to honor the occasion. This year, he is receiving his AA in Criminal Justice and you know what? The speech still applies. This speech always applies. So, I'm posting it again. And I'll probably post it every year until someone lets me read this speech in person in front of an auditorium of bright eyed graduates. Original Post: Let’s face it, it’s unlikely I will ever be asked to give a commencement speech, but this time of year all the You Tube links to inspirational speeches show up in my news feed and my very own son graduates high school in a few days, so I was inspired to give a commencement speech regardless of the lack of venue. Pretend we are in an auditorium packed with family, friends, and-most importantly-graduates. The Principal/Dean steps to the lectern… *** Today we present our graduates with a woman who is a wife, a mother, an author, a daught...

In full-on shopper mode, I turn down the cereal aisle and come up short. A thin, slightly slouched, old man stands smack dab in the center of the lane. Staring. His mouth agape, his eyes glazed. “Can I help you?” I ask. “Yes, I’m looking for Special K.” I turn toward the shelves and suddenly they stretch out in either direction like Octopus tenticles reaching for prey. I’ve never realized how many brands of cereal there are until I see it through the old man’s eyes. For half a minute, I worry that I won’t be able to spot his preferred brand either. But then my younger eagle eyes spot it and I pluck a box off the shelf for him. Fast forward about ten (or so) years to this afternoon when I stopped at the store to pick up a few things. This time I’m sauntering behind the cart because I’m seriously not in any sort of hurry. Then I find myself in the cereal aisle. Staring at the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms and…ugh…Raisin Bran. And I realize I really wa...