Racine | Mixed Metaphors

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Stories of Home

For my blog, Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! I’ve written numerous reminiscences and essays — over a dozen — about moving and home, and sadly, homelessness too. I probably have a book, or at least a collection of stories.

This fall during the pandemic, I wrote and submitted two stories in response to the theme, Within these Walls: Stories of Home for Forward Theater Co.’s (FTC) sixth Monologue Festival. I’ve submitted to five of the six monologue festivals, links to the monologues at the end of this story. For one of my submissions, I received my favorite rejection letter as a writer for the Someone’s Gotta Do It! Monologue Festival, for my submission Maria from the Sewing Room (and Gloria from the Lay-Up Department), which wasn’t selected, but made the semifinals out of 300 submissions. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Forward Theater Co, Friends, Holding On, Home, Homelessness, Letting Go, Madison, Material Life, Memoir, Memories, Moving, Moving Stories, Personal Narratives, Racine, Reminiscences, Spoken Word Monologues, Wisconsin

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Oral History

Stories of Home

As a writer, I write for different reasons. I journal to maintain a record of my life, to examine my life, reflect on the past, and look ahead to the future. As a reminiscence writer, I capture the stories of my lived experience and those of my family, friends, and loved ones. As an activist-essayist, I comment on the culture and politics of current events in hopes of galvanizing change.

I sometimes submit my work for consideration for the stage, screen, or publication. For me, those are the most challenging experiences as a writer. In addition to telling a story, I let go of control of whether it’s performed, viewed, or read by the target audience. I make myself vulnerable to the readers, producers, publishers and selection committees. My ego is in play. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Fathers, Forward Theater Co, Home, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Personal Narratives, Racine, Spoken Word Monologues, Stories, Wisconsin

Dec 31 2020

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: The End Is Here!

“There are certain life lessons that you can only learn in the struggle.” ― Idowu Koyenikan

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ― C.S. Lewis

It’s the eve of New Year’s Eve as I write and take a look back at 2020 and look ahead to 2021, wondering what the new year will bring.

There’s a blanket of fresh snow outside. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping to ensure I was prepared to be snowed in as I shelter-in-place between the holidays and before I return to work next week at my part-time-job. I only venture out for work and essential services, including a New Year’s Eve dentist appointment and a haircut next week. I have a mammogram scheduled the day before my January birthday. During 2020, we had to assess the risk vs. benefit in every venture outside our homes. Continue reading →

Tagged 2020, 2021, COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Glass Half-Full, New Year, New Year's Eve, Pandemic, Racine, Relationships, Safer-at-Home, Stories, Wisconsin Historical Society Journal Project, Year-End-Musings

Nov 25 2020

4 Comments

Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

As I write, it’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been rereading Thanksgiving Holiday journal entries from the past 12 years, plus my Thanksgiving blog reminiscences. A theme emerged which I’ve addressed before, yet continues to weave through my life — and the lives of loved ones — things change.

Thanksgiving is traditionally a family holiday, whether you celebrate it with your bio or chosen family. I’ve done both. Another theme became apparent as I reread what I’ve written in the past, grief and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Family, Father, Friends, Future, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, Memoir, Mother, Past, Pie, Present, Racine, Reminiscence, Sisters, Stories, Thanksgiving, Things Change, Turkey, Zoom

Jul 04 2020

Posts

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

Today is the 4th of July, the Independence Day Holiday. Yesterday, I began reflecting on the meaning of the day, which celebrates the independence of a nation following a revolution and the freedom of its people from an oppressive government. Of dire concern — we are living through what may be judged as another oppressive government — our own — as our elected leaders dismantle democracy and favor the corporate aristocracy and dominant white culture. We are not truly free and independent until we are all free and equal under the law. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Blogging, Childhood Memories, COVID-19, Family, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journals, Memoir, Memories, Parades, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Reminiscence, Safer-at-Home, Solitary Life, The Orphan Holidays, Wisconsin

Apr 12 2020

1 Comment

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Home Alone Easter Holiday

Like most holidays I celebrated as a child, Easter was a hybrid of religious traditions, the social culture from the generation in which I grew up, and our own ethnic and family rituals, which we repeated in some fashion every year.

Easter Holidays Past

Note: Includes excerpts from Poop Eggs & Lamb Cakes

Today is the Easter Holiday and Passover. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, my family had many traditions which we repeated every year, some with glee, and others with complaints. On Easter Saturday, we’d color eggs, which the Easter Bunny would hide that night. Mom boiled two or three dozen as our family grew. She’d cover the kitchen table with newspaper and the kids would crowd around it with our crayons, the white wax marker to write our names, a spoon in hand ready to dip the eggs in the assembly line of Easter egg dye in her Corelle coffee cups. Continue reading →

Tagged Dispatch from the Hideout, Easter, Easter Brunch, Family, Family Traditions, Fathers, Friends, Holidays, Home, Home Alone, Lamb Cake, Memoir, Mother, Movies, Pandemic, Poop Eggs, Racine, Seasons, Shelter-in-Place, Spring, Stories

May 27 2019

1 Comment

Posts

Memorial Day: Memories, Flowers, & Gratitude

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

Flowers have long been used to memorialize loved ones and symbolize new beginnings, which makes them an ideal tribute to observe Memorial Day.

This Memorial Day Holiday weekend I find myself looking back, remembering loved ones now departed, friends and family traditions that have changed, and loved ones who’ve moved away from Wisconsin. Many new beginnings start with good-byes and letting go. Memorial Day is a holiday to remember those who served and died for our country — and for my family — to remember our family members who are no longer with us in life yet remain in memory. Grateful. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, Death, Family, Family Traditions, Flower-Planting, Friends, Holidays, Home, Memoir, Memorial Day, Mother, Racine, The Loud Family, The Orphan Holidays

Dec 09 2018

1 Comment

Posts

How I Became the Grinch This Christmas

Or Why I Refuse to Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater

This year my bio family is deviating from our Christmas holiday tradition and venue. We’ve spent Christmas at Dad’s house, our childhood home, the past few years since our brother Rick ended his Saturday before Christmas Lenzke Family Open House, which was a marathon undertaking of beverage drinking, food grazing, and gift unwrapping by four generations. Some family members stayed overnight for the “afterparty.” Like most families, we have family scattered around Wisconsin and in other states — in our case — Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky, and most recently, Texas. It’s become more of a challenge to celebrate the holiday together. Continue reading →

Tagged Christmas, DIY, Family, Holidays, Home, Racine, The Grinch, Ugly Christmas Sweater

Nov 21 2018

Posts

Hibernation & the Holidays: Retreat to the Hideout

Hibernation definition — an extended period of remaining inactive or indoors

Hideout synonyms — hiding place, hideaway, retreat, refuge, shelter, safe house, sanctuary, sanctum

First, I’m a creature of habit. I find comfort in my routines. There’s a rhythm to my days and nights. I read somewhere recently that we all experience some degree of OCD behavior. It’s certainly true for me. The gears of my Circadian clock are still trying to mesh with some synchronicity since the ending of Daylight Savings Time (DST) and turning the clocks one hour behind. Who knew that would make such an impact? They’re grinding a little right now as I try to slip back into a sleep cycle. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Hideout, Holidays, Home, Loss, Memories, Mother, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Retreat, Seasons, Sisters, Stories, Thanksgiving, The Changing Seasons, The Loud Family, Winter

Oct 05 2018

1 Comment

Posts

You Can’t Go Home Again

Hat Tip to Thomas Wolfe

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood…back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time…” — Thomas Wolfe

First, let me go on record that as a memoir writer and someone who writes about family, relationships, and the mundane moments of everyday life — you can return home by remembering. I’ve learned though as a reminiscence writer that memory is malleable and can play tricks on you, sometimes sanding off the rough edges of some memories, while sharpening others. The nation has witnessed this phenomenon the past couple of weeks during the Supreme Court Justice nomination hearings. Continue reading →

Tagged 1968, Body, Brother, Death, Family, Father, Grief, High School Reunion, Home, Loss, Mind, Mother, Racine, Sisters, Spirit, Tag Team Sisters

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Racine

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Within these Walls: Oral History

Dispatch from the Hideout: The End Is Here!

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

Dispatch from the Hideout: Home Alone Easter Holiday

Memorial Day: Memories, Flowers, & Gratitude

How I Became the Grinch This Christmas

Hibernation & the Holidays: Retreat to the Hideout

You Can’t Go Home Again