The Secret Life of Blogs

Today I write about a place I associate with my dad. It’s a tangential move from my previous intention of writing from the angles of people in his life, such as when I started with his parents, but it’s what strikes my mood this week, and it’s my blog, so I can take a tangent if I want, right?   J Is it weird to start in the basement?   All four of the different homes we lived in during my childhood had basements, but the gold-colored house in Algonquin, Illinois is the one where the most memories— both good and bad—were made. I was going into 5 th grade the summer we moved in, and it was my home base until I moved out to California after college. The basement was unfinished, meaning there was no drywall on the walls—only exposed wood frames with no insulation, making the space cold no matter what time of year it was.   I might be remembering this wrong…. Surely when I think about the four square sections the area was divided into, I can picture actual ...

September 3, 2019 Shut Up & Write! The Coral Tree Cafe The Trouble with Memory Today’s goal is to get down a bunch of ideas about my dad that might launch later, more developed stories. This morning I emailed my cousin, the oldest of the 5 cousins (I am the youngest) to get some ideas about my dad that would pre-date any memories of my own.   ( Eagerly awaiting his reply…!)   I will also email his sister, the second-oldest cousin. She is more of the official curator of family history-- the one who actually goes on ancestry.com and who archives the old photos and slides.   (Remember slides…?!?)   Wow… the word “slides” itself triggers some rusty old memories that I’d forgotten I had. Memories of the ancient (but new at the time) slide projectors and retractable screens on their own folding tripods; white sheets hung on a wall in the absence of the screens.   Reliving or witnessing our parents’ memories, imagining the live-action version of ...