‘Begone, Satan!’ or ‘Come hither, Iowa Angels’?
It began when she was 14 years old. Secret voices. Shameful desires. Unholy thoughts of suicide and mayhem. This went on for 26 years until she had enough of the [...]
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Posted January 05, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted December 01, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Winter is coming
And Sister Marla Smith’s eyes light up. Trust me. Holding her thin hand and rubbing her thin back, I sit quietly beside her wheelchair. She smiles, and I swear a [...]
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Posted November 03, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Sam the Barber
“Aging is a journey that many don’t experience. They were born old, and they die old.” The parking lot is full. Men in dress pants and jackets. Women in dresses [...]
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Posted October 06, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Bolinhas and thongs
My wife and I have major parts of our bodies that have never seen the light of day. The endless white sand beaches of southern Portugal are baked in bright [...]
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Posted September 01, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The retirement of John Sarcone
This is not going to be an unbiased examination of John Sarcone’s tenure as Polk County Attorney — with an accompanying hard-hitting look at why he prefers Italian sausage sandwiches [...]
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Posted August 04, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The Christmas salad
It’s time for a visit between two women with 192 years lived between them. “When I was in Indianapolis during World War II, I lived in a large house that [...]
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Posted June 30, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Beginnings are never a straight line
Taking a whiz? Really? Everyone has to start somewhere. Perhaps it’s your first car, or it’s your first day after graduation, or it’s your first baby, or it’s your first [...]
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Posted June 02, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
The arrival of goldfinches
The end of one time and the beginning of another. The goldfinches land on the feeder, quickly eat, then dart away. Dine and dash. They don’t hang around with the [...]
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Posted May 05, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Bedtime rituals
The reading of the second book is always the most challenging. I sit next to my 2-year-old son and force my eyes wide while reading that riveting thriller “One Fish, Two [...]
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Posted March 31, 2021in Joe's Neighborhood
Vaccine — do you need another reason?
Seven of my siblings wait in line before me. Judy, Carol, Marla, John, Joyce, Jim and Cathy. I’m at the tail end. One at a time, they go into a [...]
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