Life

Hope Will Circle Around Again

by Shawn April 23, 2012
Thumbnail image for Hope Will Circle Around Again

Friday morning, 2am, and a thunderous rain pounds on the roof of our bus. Flashes of lightning dash inside where we sleep, and, quickly following after, thunder splits my children’s dreams. Friday morning, 2am, and Lucy wriggles her way into our bed with the two words we can never refute. “I’m scared,” she whispers, curling [...]

27 comments Read the full article →

Gorging on Stories and Refusing to Wash the Taste Away

by Shawn April 20, 2012
Thumbnail image for Gorging on Stories and Refusing to Wash the Taste Away

It’s a smaller world now. We drive 10,000 miles in four months. We devour states the way my childhood self inhaled birthday cake. We breath in the miles and exhale them before ever really catching their scent, before ever really tasting the dust. The grit of every city coats our teeth, but we clean it [...]

13 comments Read the full article →

There is Something to be Said for Deep Roots (My Take on Texas)

by Shawn April 18, 2012
Thumbnail image for There is Something to be Said for Deep Roots (My Take on Texas)

For me, Laredo, Texas is where my memories begin. I lived there for a year when I was four. A land of dust. Ants that bite with fire in their mouths. Heat and lizards and trailer parks. Empty swimming pools and a tiny church with cement block walls. Images of my childhood Texas are much [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

Do Something Irresponsible

by Shawn April 16, 2012

I sat quietly in a mall somewhere in Nashville a few weeks ago and looked at my ringing cell phone. The call I had been waiting for. “Hello?” The guy’s name was Kevin – I had never spoken to him before, but a shared friend had connected us, thought we should talk. And as I [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

Death and Life, Lost and Found: The Halfway Point of Our Trip

by Shawn April 15, 2012
Thumbnail image for Death and Life, Lost and Found: The Halfway Point of Our Trip

We are in Austin, Texas. I’m writing this close to midnight on Saturday night, and by the time it posts it will be the 15th of April. Two months down, two to go. The kids are asleep. A cool breeze blows in through the bedroom window. Maile’s at the table at the front of the [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

Who I Found in a San Antonio Hospital Room

by Shawn April 12, 2012

The VA hospital sat shrouded in silence, like a morgue for the living. Men in dire conditions sat quietly on scooters or in wheelchairs. They stared at Jack and I as we walked through the front door. I nodded hello to them. Some nodded back. Others did not. I felt very much out of place. [...]

15 comments Read the full article →

What to do When Your Children Throw Their Shoes at Strangers

by Shawn April 11, 2012

Then it comes time to look first for respite, especially after long days on the road. We walk into these plastic palaces, their AC blasting, their primary colors tearing holes in my retinas. The cool air instantly chills my skin’s thin layer of sweat and grime. We herd the children to the playground in the [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →