On a blistering hot summer day, it can be a no-brainer to think about a refreshing swim. It doesn’t matter where in the world you may be if it’s hot enough. Since this little episode takes place in Botswana’s Okavango Delta the story has a rather different wrinkle to it.

When the phone rang that late Friday afternoon in September, I answered without thought. I shouldn’t have been surprised when I heard what my doctor had to say. After all, I’d already had an ultrasound, an MRI, and a needle-biopsy, but my innate optimism, my desire to always find a half-filled glass even among its…

Getting from the back of our attic to the master bedroom can involve (A) 50 paces and 14 stairs or (B) one large step. Usually I take the 50+14 because it doesn’t include smashing through a plasterboard ceiling with my body followed by a drop of ten feet to the floor and the possibility of…

It’s a beautiful day and just perfect for you to join me on our morning game drive. It appears that this small herd of giraffe was on a mission.

Oh, hi. Yes, sure, you can sit here. Crowded isn’t it? Yes, The 49 Bus is usually crowded this time of day. People going to work and shopping and the school kids, you know.

An unforgiveable family debt brings Jack Perle from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the docks of Philadelphia where he plots to collect from those closest to him.

The year 2020 has affected everyone in some way that you probably never planned. For me it was the year I could finally share my passion without losing friends or boring everyone at the party. Let me explain…I am totally passionate about the wildlife and tribes of Africa. It’s been part of my life since…

A rollicking, fast moving tale of a family separated by a big bump on a rain-soaked country road. Two-year-old Oscar Ferguson bounces out of the back of the old family truck in backwoods Appalachia and is found by Amelia and Oliver Shagnasty, who raise him as their own son. Oscar’s brother, Randolph, is adopted from…

The Blinking Game: An African American Woman Experiences India As a kid growing up in rural Illinois I learned a lot from our cow Lucy. When I wanted to get her attention, I would flail my arms in front of her face, point and direct her to “eat that grass over there!” Lucy would just…

I knew it had to happen someday. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same, so it is said. I’ve had my 1967 Corvette convertible for 20 years. I’ve loved it—driving it, caring for it, repairing it, babying it. Local driving, good weather only. It was part of my persona, whatever that means.

The phone rang. It was June, 1978 and as soon as I said “Hello”, my frantic friend burst into tears and said, “Thank goodness you’re ok, I thought you were dead!” Breathlessly she then went on to explain that her previous boss, my ex-boyfriend from a month ago, was shot in the head and the…

Daddy had one more story to tell about when he was a little boy. We didn’t ask him to tell us this one. He liked telling it anyway. “Der wuz dis big famly jes lak us, but dey wun’t po lak us. I seed dem girls in dey pressed white dresses always carrying theirselves lak…

Lordy, my sister Whinny loved horses. Momma said they’d be the death of her. When she was little, Whinny’s bedroom was all porcelain horses, paint-by-number mustangs, and magazines about thoroughbreds and cow ponies. She had maps for a trip to Assateague and Chincoteague, where she’d to meet Misty and the wild ponies from the newsreel….

During World War II, military men were not allowed to keep diaries for fear that if they were captured, the enemy might learn valuable information. Somehow Albert had the blessing of the ship’s captain and was able to keep a day-to-day diary. The diary needed to be transcribed. Albert’s handwriting was a challenge. So, in…

Warm-hearted, straightforward, and unafraid, Amor Fati is the autobiography of Denise Noella Kingsley, who learned to love her fate and through a life well-lived has inspired others to do the same.