Exploring the Jungle —Mary Lott

I love a beach day. I’m always good for warm, salt-water therapy. The sun warms my bones, and sand crunching beneath my feet softens and smooths my callouses. As the waves gently lap ashore, all is peaceful and calm. Imagine being tasked with finding one special grain of sand on…

Tilting my head upward, I looked to the stars. There it was, the easiest constellation for me to identify: Orion. I identified it by the three stars in a row that make up his belt, and then looked down to his right side — my left — and saw the…

I’m finding myself weary at the start of every day. Sleep doesn’t provide much calming rest, and I need time to focus myself before I begin any work. That’s frustrating! I want to “get cracking,” but the flesh doesn’t match my spirit. Then I came across a quote online (source…

Creak, groan! This time the complainer is my 2003 car. Apparently, it doesn’t like a temperature of 30 F any more than I do. In spite it all, I put on my lined gloves, double-check my purse for plenty of chemical hand-warmers, and cover my face to make the 957-foot…

“Those look like snow clouds,” I said to my dad on a recent Sunday afternoon. “Those definitely look like snow clouds,” he responded. I’d warned him the previous Friday that snow was predicted for the following Tuesday. I remember Dad asking if I thought it would actually snow this time,…

“Oh, man! I think I really blew it.” My heart sunk to my toes as I looked at my thighs and forearms, where a maroon cobweb had appeared on my dusky blue skin. I quickly glanced at my stomach. The cobweb and dusky background were there as well. That was…

“Let’s see what the fam is doing today,” I mused to myself as I opened my Facebook feed. On Facebook, I’ve been able to reconnect with acquaintances from elementary school. My own family is scattered across the world, and I often don’t know where my son is working. Social media…

Standing at the bathroom mirror, I peer this way and that. Has that scab become smaller? Is there any redness or pain? Any swelling, especially around the edges of my skin graft? Everything seems to be going smoothly. I’m pleasantly surprised. I had my Mohs surgery (for skin cancer…

I was enveloped in a deliciously warm environment, floating as if on a cloud, bathed in warm sunshine. I stretched out my arm, which immediately whapped against the bedroom wall. My luxurious sleep had ended. I reached down and lifted up my laptop from the bottom shelf of my bedside…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that people with cold agglutinin disease (CAD) can’t breathe. However little known the feelings or views of such a person, this truth is so well-fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that people with CAD, because they can’t breathe, will never walk…