Monthly Archives: October 2022

Ruth, my fair weather friend

Posted on October 28, 2022 by maradanto

I first met my close, personal friend Ruth Hersey in August 1993, when we were both new hires at an English-speaking school in Haiti. The island had just been through some pounding rain that had let up only two days … Continue reading →

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Enuma Elish

Posted on October 25, 2022 by maradanto

I am having the eeriest feelings of deja vu as I dip my toes for the first time into the wells of Babylonian mythology. The text in question is the Enuma Elish, which includes the ancient Babylonian creation myth. In … Continue reading →

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Cousins, the bonus siblings

Posted on October 24, 2022 by maradanto

I’ve heard cousins described as a child’s first set of friends. They’re not exactly family, but they’re close, and you see them often enough that they understand the weird things that make your family click. You feel like you’re born … Continue reading →

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The elephant table

Posted on October 23, 2022 by maradanto

For as long as I can remember, my parents’ house has been a house of antiques. Some antiques are family heirlooms of primarily nostalgic value, but others go further than that. One item used to dominate the wall in our … Continue reading →

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Monster week: nameless beast

Posted on October 23, 2022 by maradanto

Ken heard the thump-thump-thump of a basketball bouncing on the pavement coming from just up ahead and around the corner, but the noise always seemed to come from something just out of sight. He would round a corner of the … Continue reading →

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Phantom pains

Posted on October 20, 2022 by maradanto

I woke up last night thinking about phantom pains. These are the feelings amputees sometimes get in their lost limbs. The foot itches, but you can’t scratch it. The arm is sore but you can’t stretch it. The limbs aren’t … Continue reading →

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Church history. extra credit

Posted on October 20, 2022 by maradanto

Once as a teacher at a private Christian school in Bethlehem, Pa., I offered my kids what I considered an easy two points extra credit on a quiz. “Who wrote John Fox’s ‘Book of Martyrs’?” I asked. It was harder … Continue reading →

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Monster week: Purple hippo

Posted on October 19, 2022 by maradanto

What weighs between two and three tons, gallops across dry land about 20 mph, dances as graceefully as a trained ballerina, and acts as a psychopomp to the recently deceased? No, it’s not a hippo. It’s a purple hippo! Once … Continue reading →

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Church of my dreams

Posted on October 17, 2022 by maradanto

It’s been a few months since I went to church, but last night the clouds opened and the drought finally broke. My break with Point Community Church finally came this summer when the church elders made it clear that they … Continue reading →

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Monster week: bunyip

Posted on October 13, 2022 by maradanto

If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck, chances are that it’s a duck. Unless it’s twice the size of an adult, has razor-sharp claws and drowns children, in which case it could … Continue reading →

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