Exploring the Jungle —Mary Lott

“No, you don’t have cancer.” The doctor was explaining what my bone marrow biopsy had revealed. “You do have an abnormality in your blood that may develop into either leukemia or lymphoma, but right…

“Mike, stop!” I yelled at my boyfriend, now husband, as we crossed an intersection in Auburn, Alabama. “Let me move that turtle out of the way.” A few disgruntled drivers were in cars behind…

“You should’ve started writing earlier. Now you’ve wasted the time and won’t get it done by deadline. This is what you always do: You’re always late and disorganized. You really ought to give up.

It was a rare Saturday morning with nothing on the schedule, so my husband, Mike, and I could sleep in. Except that I’ve forgotten — temporarily, I hope — how to sleep late. I…

Grabbing the best spot in front of the TV, I make myself comfortable on pillows. It’s time for the Kentucky Derby. The first Saturday in May is reserved for me to enter a world…

Last summer, my right knee hurt. As far as I know there was no injury; it just hurt. The pain grew to the point where I hobbled around the house. I used food delivery…

“Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel/ Never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel/… In the windmills of your mind.” When I try to figure out…

In March, a prayer request was passed through our expatriate community here in Indonesia. Someone was suffering the lingering effects of a bout with dengue fever. A follow-up message soon arrived detailing what was…

I blinked several times in the bright sunlight as I started down the stairs that had been rolled up to the airplane. The airport seemed strangely built, with two large buildings topped by tall,…

“Easy, easy,” I said in my most reassuring voice. “It’s very easy to get to my house. There are only two turns.” Despite that, the courier from the shipping company was telling me that…