I love the companionship that is born when reading a book set in a familiar place. I’m currently reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. It’s a novel that takes place not only in a familiar geographic region but also a nostalgic era of my life, with characters the same age as myself during thatContinue reading “Local Stories”
Author Archives: Sarah M. Wells
Morning Tea
Most mornings, our alarms go off simultaneously. Sometimes I hit snooze. Sometimes he rolls over for another ten minutes. One of us gets up and fills the kettle. We have two pink chairs in the office that face the Southeastern side of our yard. These days the sun rises between two giant Norway spruce andContinue reading “Morning Tea”
Flocks Fly Together
Today on the way back from a work meeting in Northwest Ohio, we drove through farmland patterned with rows of corn and fallow fields. As we drove, I watched along the road a flock of common birds lift up and land and lift again in a wave, moving together as if performing some long choreographedContinue reading “Flocks Fly Together”
When Your Day Isn’t Interrupted by a Mass Shooting
This morning, you went to a church and sang about a Good, Good Father. The pastor preached about the in-between, this space we inhabit, so ordinary, working and walking, singing and sighing, navigating our way around the grieving, who have just been struck by the reality of what we keep at arm’s length or farther.Continue reading “When Your Day Isn’t Interrupted by a Mass Shooting”
Birthday Cards
Brandon took the boys to buy birthday cards for me yesterday. Lydia made me a card with a picture and quote of Dwight Schrute on it. Elvis’ card made me laugh, and Henry’s card was all warm and fuzzy about how special moms are (Henry said “I picked it because it has so many niceContinue reading “Birthday Cards”
In the Spirit of What Are the Chances
Sometimes you sit down in a hospital or restaurant or airport, and when you take a moment to look around, you find yourself in the presence of someone who looks a little familiar. Okay, really familiar. Is that so-and-so’s doppelgänger, or is that actually them? What are they doing here? You tilt your head a little and feel kind of embarrassed for staring so long and as intently, until they catch you.
When Friends Stop By
My son’s buddy rings the doorbell. My daughter’s friend rides up on her bike. Friends pull in the driveway and come in through the garage. We always wanted to be a home that others felt comfortable entering, the kind of place other people’s children trust. When we lived in Copley, this open door policy extendedContinue reading “When Friends Stop By”
The Gift of Writer’s Residencies
Tonight, I attended the opening reading for the Ashland University MFA program where I used to work. After knowing every student, faculty member, and visiting writer for the first seven years of the program, it is still surreal to walk into that space and not recognize most of the faces. But what was especially lovelyContinue reading “The Gift of Writer’s Residencies”
Ordinary Time
I know I’ve already said it here, the thing about this season of unproductivity and feeling at a loss for words for most things, and it’s true—in the last year since The Family Bible Devotional came out, any time I’ve sat down to type a thing, anything not tied to some dollar-generating deadline, my fingers have hoveredContinue reading “Ordinary Time”
Joy Comes in the Morning – The Power of Eastertide
For Lent this year, I picked up a different kind of devotional compiled by a writing acquaintance of mine, Sarah Arthur. The book–Between Midnight and Dawn–provides a selection of Scripture passages (Psalm, Prophet, Epistle, Gospel) paired with poems and excerpts of fiction from both contemporary and canonized authors for each week of the Lenten season.Continue reading “Joy Comes in the Morning – The Power of Eastertide”