Jimmy and Billy, two young men in kindergarten, went home from school every day just before noon. They lived in a small town in Nebraska, in the middle of farm country. It was the 1950s...

The scruffy old man and his white poodle on a long red leash were neighborhood icons years ago down at the corner

When Bernie wakes at 6 a.m. there’s a piano on his chest and Erroll Garner’s playing “Mist… Sinatra’s on the headboard improvising lyrics

She lives by a lake. After a heavy snow she looks out the window and sees black swans in a long, straight line

Tommy is the only man for miles around who can knot a ti… Old farmers come to town on Satur… and wave from pickups with respect when they see Tommy on the street

You were a little older than three the day your father taught you how to pee, standing up. Your father trumpeted your triumph and your mother laughed in the kit…

It’s pretty simple, really. The world will end whether we believe the Bible is a myth or truth. If the Bible is the truth,

Granny watches nature in the city from her window after the nurse takes her tray away. She likes to watch the bird feeder grandson Ahmad hung for cardinals,

Underneath the feeder black juncos write hieroglyphics in the snow. Two cardinals arrive In a flash of red. They add

After the Spring rain a dove on a Dogwood branch preens like a starlet

It’s a kindergarten soccer team and Jack’s the biggest kid. His father is the coach. The team is undefeated but there’s a problem

In 1958 Elmer’s was the only high school in his county that had been integrated. Basketball was the big sport. People in the little town filled the gym every Tuesday and Friday. They ro...

The story goes Pa met Ma in the city when he drove a truckload of pigs to market. She was the young waitress who served him cup after cup of coffee and gave him three eggs instead of ju...

Rose was a plain girl from a small town. She sang in the choir, never missed Bible study, left for the big city

The blind artist paints life as he wants it to be a tranquil sky a big sun smiling everyone laughing.