The Upper Middle South/Lower Middle Class Credo

There will be at least one dollar store within walking distance of the house.

There will always be at least five or six cans of chicken Vienna sausages in the pantry.

Staring Contest

When I was nine or ten, I often went over to a neighbor’s house.

The neighbor, a childhood playmate, lived in a building that would best be described as ramshackle — though that word is still far too quaint to describe the damage inside. In one part of the house, the floor…

Alone With My Thoughts

It’s not easy to be alone.

Sometimes, I get an almost animalistic desire to hide under my desk when I’m the only one in a room, in case someone else walks in. If another person enters the room, it would just be the two of us — and I would feel defenseless. I…

The Swarm

The first time I watched Derry Girls, I was immediately struck by one thing. In the opening sequence of the first episode, a military transport truck — hauling two armed soldiers — winds its way around the outskirts of Derry.

Mining Our Business

Some brief thoughts on mining and miners.

Granddad down in a mine,

me down in a cave —

both of us going deeper into Kentucky

Thirty

on expectations

A few days after my thirtieth birthday, I drove over to a lakeside resort. I didn’t have a room booked, but I planned on taking a day trip to look at the water and the geese.

No Elegies

an essay about not hating where I’m from

I’m reposting something I wrote a year ago over on another site, because I feel that it’s still relevant, particularly for my Appalachian friends.

Hometown On Ice

an update on the place I’ve called home

These days, when I take out the trash in the evening, I’ll give the can a good shake before I open the lid. The raccoons that live in the can aren’t rabid, but they are mean. They growl, they spit, and they…