Writings by Diane

I’m reminded of my mother’s favorite word, which is “spiral”. When I asked her why that particular word, she answered it was the image of the word that sparked her attention. The word described what it is, and she liked the way it sounds.   To better illustrate, as she said the word spiral, she drew a flowing, curling ribbon in the air.   That got me to thinking, what is my favorite word?   Actually, two words pop to mind—the first one is “brilliant”. This word brings up memories of when I was about 11 years old and my cousin John from Scotland came to visit us. He would say “brilliant” as an adjective, which I had never heard used that way before. I only knew brilliant to describe light’s intensity. It was amazing to me to hear it used as a synonym for excellent, awesome or terrific. When I think of this word, I can still hear his Scottish brogue. My other favorite word is a Spanish word lástima . This word takes me back to when I worked for a subcontractor and was speak...

Stanley hopped onto the back of the plush chair next to the window. He lay down on his belly, settling in the comfort of the extra padding. He was ready for his mid afternoon nap. He had just eaten and drank some water, so his schedule had now become wide-open. He let his tiredness close his amber eyes and he began to drift off to sleep. “Get out of my way, fatty boombalate!” Jinx cried out. He divebombed next to Stanley, who woke up with a start. “What did you call me?” Stanley asked, raising his head from his slumber. “Doesn't matter, I want the window seat!” Jinx snapped, swatting Stanley on his gray ear. Stanley was about to return in kind, when he spied the Woman walking up to them with a spray bottle full of ice cold water. Since Jinx’s back was toward her, he couldn't see her rapid approach. Quite nimbly, Stanley relinquished his perch, and trotted off to the sliding glass door. “Yeah, you better run!” Jinx crowed.   Suddenly, he felt an icy cold sensation against his ...

              Isn't it amazing you can meet someone and find something about his/her attitude and outlook in life that has a profound impact on you? That happened to me. I met Valerie over 20 years ago at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and I am still gleaning lessons from our relatively short meeting. At that time, I was attending a mathematics class for a semester. The teacher was telling us the rules of his classroom. One of the stipulations was no hats. He looked up from his podium and pointed to a girl with a baseball cap. Her ponytail was cascading out of the back of the cap. He remarked he wouldn’t ask her to remove her cap since her hair was styled around it, but please not to wear it again. Of course, at that moment, everyone looked towards her. If that was me, I would be flushed with embarrassment, glaring at the teacher for pointing me out. However, her expression was calm and collected. She smiled and nodded she would not wear...

I’ve lived in big cities all my life, so small towns are so foreign to me. Any town that doesn’t have a shopping mall boggles my mind! How do people survive?! My husband, on the other hand, was born in Darbyville, OH. At the time, the population was less than 100 people. He would joke that they would roll up the streets when the sun went down. He said this affectionately, for he said nothing beats living in a small town.   At this remark, I would look at him as if he grew another head. Early in our marriage, he talked me into going on a camping trip. I have to admit, I was not thrilled at the prospect of spending a couple of days in a tent. Driving out of Las Vegas, we came across a small town named Cottonwood Cove, NV.   We spied the little restaurant to get some breakfast. I recall the restaurant was small, and clean, with local people milling around the counter. The atmosphere was relaxed and a feeling of down-home permeated through the walls. The locals were in conversatio...