My Mother’s Orange Tree

On December 7th, 1941, my mother was at her friend Louise’s house.  They were picking the first oranges of the season when Louise’s mother came out to the yard to tell them the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Every year after, my mother commemorated the date by picking, and then eating, the … Continue reading My Mother’s Orange Tree

The Changing Dreamscape

Ursula LeGuin wrote an amazing book called The Word for World is Forest back in 1972.  A friend gave it to me sometime in the 80s and it has haunted me ever since.  It’s something of an allegorical tale:  humans head off to exploit the fictional planet Athshe—to kill the men, rape the women, and … Continue reading The Changing Dreamscape