Category: Personal Narrative
-
A robin, a church, a garden
By Neva Knott March 15. Yesterday, Saturday, we awoke to snow. Light flurries, swirling but not sticking. Dry snow and a cold wind coming up off the low end of the Salish Sea. Ted and I walked for an hour, through our neighborhood, up toward Trinity. A few people were cleaning brush at the church…
-
The Writing Hour: Happy vs. Whole
By Neva Knott Two nights ago, a friend posted on Facebook a list entitled “Rules for my Daughter.” Number 10 struck me, stood out, stuck in my brain, has become an epiphany, “Happiness is not a permanent state. Wholeness is. Don’t confuse these.” I hear often, in support and response to me lamenting a shift…
-
The Writing Hour: Downtown Nordstrom is my Breakfast at Tiffany’s
By Neva Knott First, a little writing process/challenge overview. A few days ago, I started this category of The Writing Hour because I’d grumbled to a friend I wasn’t getting any writing done…and he reminded me, just do it for an hour a day. Knowing he was/is right, I took up the challenge. Diligently, the…
-
The Daily Writing Hour: Portland, not Portlandia
By Neva Knott Two days ago, a friend reminded me to write for an hour a day…this is what I have to say today… Last night, we hosted a band, The Screamin’ Geezers, at my bar. Two of the members fronted long-ago-known Portland punk bands, The Confidentials and Sado-Nation (early 1980s). These bands played the…
-
Next…surviving the loss of love, buying a house, and digging in the dirt to feel alive again
By Neva Knott Dirty dishes are piled in the sink, one cup atop one plate, atop one bowl and flanked by one knife, one fork, one spoon. There’s a pan for each day’s meal: the saucepan for Monday’s soup, the skillet for Tuesday’s packaged potstickers, and the baking dish for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s pre-seasoned packaged…
-
Collage of life…saving cards and reading them years later
By Neva Knott I’ve been going through those boxes… you know, the boxes stuffed in a closet while moving or while reallocating space in your home. Today I found my basket of cards, overflowing and priceless. I picked it up and thought, do I still want these? Instead of making a snap decision, I sat…
-
Scream
By Neva Knott The lights were on the band and I was dancing next to the guy I like, feeling guilty that I like him and wondering what he’d do if he knew, because my boyfriend just died two months ago and they were friends. I looked around that familiar room, a bit like the…
-
Leaving: the longing, nostalgia, and truth of traveling young.
By Neva Knott 1968 was a time of global intensity; mores and values were changing, driving social unrest. 1968 marked the significant increase in American deaths from the Vietnam war. It also marked the date of student protests in France that were considered a cultural, social and moral turning point in the history of that…
The Diary of Beautiful Enchiladas 