Exploring the Jungle —Mary Lott

“Oh, good grief!” I rolled my eyes as I looked at my fingernail. “I don’t have time for this right now.” I was busy packing on a Tuesday morning as I prepped for my…

I have long been an early riser, and today was no different, as I was up at 5 a.m. During summers here in Alabama, we have about three hours when we can go outdoors…

All this summer, I’ve put boundaries around myself. They’re not physical boundaries, like a fence, but boundaries to maintain my self-care. For one, I’ve established environmental boundaries, which help me stay warm. For another,…

I was the first passenger to board the plane. The flight would be short, only two hours long, from Atlanta to Houston. I felt comfortable with the route. It was over the Southeastern United…

Everything was going well. My new-to-me car responded well to the steering wheel, and the brakes were nice and tight. I’d left my house in Alabama and was heading west to visit my oldest…

“Can we read ‘Go, Go, Go’ again?” My student was eager to revisit this story, one she’d successfully read the previous week. “Go, Go, Go” is one of the “Dick and Jane” emerging reader…

Summer is my all-time favorite season and always has been. I’ve been a dreamer all my life, and my favorite pastime when I was younger was to take a book outside, find a place…

Note: This column was updated July 25, 2025, to correct the term coagulate to agglutinate.  Three points make a plane. I learned this rule back in eighth-grade geometry class. At the time it was…

A friend of mine asked me, “You’re always staying home. Have you always been a homebody?” I got mad. This comment was many years ago, and it still irritates. But I didn’t express my…