Exploring the Jungle - a Column by Mary Lott

My heart sank when I came across a report on X recently. “Students who begin behind tend to stay behind,” the report from the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) noted. It added that third-grade test scores “remain powerful predictors of long-term academic trajectories.” Imagine…

“Let’s get some blood work done,” my doctor suggested. A minute later, the nurse appeared, tray in hand. I saw the yellow rubber tourniquet, the syringe, and a tray of vials. I looked for the baby heel warmers to wrap the blood vials as soon as my blood was drawn.

I frowned and turned off the Auburn Tigers versus Kentucky Wildcats football game. One set of downs was all I could manage. I find myself this year too emotionally vested in Auburn football and have forced myself to avoid it to lower my stress. Auburn is known as the Cardiac…

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” Blanche DuBois explains in the closing line of Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” DuBois is a Southern lady in the declining years of her life, attempting to adapt to a changing world. Because her abilities are no longer the…

Lurking out there amid my tropical splendor is a hidden foe. Don’t try to find it in the picture. This creature is too small to see unless you’re close to it. Yet, it is the world’s deadliest animal. My family and I have had a few run-ins with it.

Everything seemed normal when I left the game on Friday night. Our Hillcrest Knights were hosting a volleyball tournament, and I went for the fellowship and food. At present, my anemia is keeping me fairly close to home, but I was starved for conversation with another human. I didn’t stay…

On Friday evening, I locked the front door and hopped on my trusty, rusty motorcycle. Finally! I was leaving the house for the first time all week. I would be skipping the meal served by our Hillcrest School seniors here in Papua, Indonesia, but I needed to interact with others…

“Don’t use that glass! Get one from the cupboard,” I sternly told one of our boys last week. Our next-door neighbors were coming over to visit immediately after supper. I’d already prepped a serving tray containing glasses, napkins, a water pitcher, and freshly picked pineapple cut into slices. I do…

I started an hour late this Sunday and missed the kickoff of the Auburn University Tigers’ football game. Ordinarily I’d have made the sacrifice, but this weekend I planned to avoid the stress of the game. I’ve recently been having trouble breathing, which can be brought on by even…

“Stop where you are. Wait until I tell you and then move slowly,” I yelled at my husband and daughter, who were watching my efforts. I held my breath and, with excruciating slowness, removed my hands from around the egg. It was 2021, the day of the autumnal equinox. I…