August 2023

Washington as Count Dracula Tryon Place, 1791 Washington comes in. He is wearing black velvet with gold buckles at the knee and foot, a sword with finely wrought steel hilt, in scabbard of white [...]

My Greek Tragedy In which a hero rises from Athens’ ashes By Cynthia Adams Seeking a geographic cure after my father’s sudden death, my husband and I booked tickets to Greece during spring break [...]

Fiction by Valerie Nieman Illustration by Jenn Hales Andi hadn’t been startled awake for several nights, ever since the contractor fixed that foundation problem, but now she sat straight up in [...]

A Wilder Bond A friendship rooted in fiction is formed By Cassie Bustamante While reading is generally a solitary activity, it invites us to feel less alone in this world. Books connect us to [...]

A Case of Mistaken Identity It’s not a baby hummingbird at all By Susan Campbell I am waiting, just waiting, for the first call to come in from someone who has seen a “baby hummingbird.” Although [...]

Let There Be Darkness In defense of the dark side By Jim Dodson During a business trip to a remote part of New Zealand last winter, I was reminded of the staggering beauty of the night. Stepping [...]

Heavy Mettle Three mothers of tenacity appear in a debut novel By Anne Blythe Mother’s Day has come and gone this year, but Sara Johnson Allen’s Down Here We Come Up offers a unique and [...]

Fiction by Brendan Slocumb   •   Illustration by Mariano Santillan He smelled like the cake factory: frosting, the yeasty stench of batter and butter, but more than anything else, sugar. Baked [...]

Swing to Life A tired play set oscillates a passerby’s perspective By Mallory Miranda I can’t stand the sight of it: The metal and plastic swing set in its sun-faded primary colors. It stands [...]

Leo (July 23 – August 22) No surprise: You’re in the driver’s seat this month, kiddo — just the way you like it. Control is a clever little temptress. With Venus retrograde in Leo until September [...]