by Carole Duff | Jul 31, 2017 | Faith, Family, Local or Human Interest |
“Emmanuel! Wait! Stop!” A woman’s frantic shout, and the pit-pat-pit-pat sound of a child’s sandals hitting pavement, came from behind me. I was standing on a busy, New York City street corner, staring at the “do not walk” hand sign but turned to confirm what I...
by Carole Duff | Jul 17, 2017 | Local or Human Interest, Writing and Reading |
The air conditioning in the Rotunda’s Multipurpose Room at the University of Virginia was set to sub-zero. New arrivals, refugees from last week’s steam bath in Charlottesville, might have welcomed the chill. But those of us who’d stayed from the previous workshop in...
by Carole Duff | Jul 3, 2017 | Faith, Family, Local or Human Interest |
Rain fell softly over the Rockfish Valley that morning in May, and fog hovered over the Blue Ridge Mountains. The weather forecast called for a break in the rain from mid-morning to early afternoon, enough time for our guests and us to visit The Frontier Culture...
by Carole Duff | Jun 26, 2017 | Faith, Local or Human Interest |
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Romans 7:15 (NRSV) Thursday late afternoon, headed northbound on route 151, I waited six cars back from the attendant holding a Stop/Slow flip sign. Streams of...
by Carole Duff | Jun 5, 2017 | Dogs & Other Creatures, Faith, Local or Human Interest |
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Valentine and Proteus, are best friends. At the beginning of Shakespeare’s play, they bid each other a loving farewell. Valentine then leaves for Milan to seek his fortune, while Proteus stays behind to woo Julia. When his father orders...
by Carole Duff | May 29, 2017 | Dogs & Other Creatures, Faith, Local or Human Interest, Nature, Writing and Reading |
Driving home from class last Thursday night, I berated myself for being too little a “pantser” (writing by the seat of your pants) and too much a “plotter”—more accurately a plodder—when responding to in-class writing prompts. Though distracted, I approached the...