Simply missing color commentary

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 24 July 2012 13:34

“Tonight before I sleep, I’ll give thanks for two fine weeks and the people, big and small, who filled them. And tomorrow, I’ll buy some more sunflowers.” —Sharon Randall

There’s a columnist out of Las Vegas who has a way of stringing together words that leave you feeling like you’ve just been hugged.

“The sunflowers that smiled for two weeks on my kitchen table stopped smiling today. Actually, it wasn’t just a single bunch of flowers. I’d been picking out the ones that faded and buying fresh ones to add to the vase as needed to keep them looking happy—like me.”

Sharon Randall wrote that this week. She runs every Sunday in the Salina Journal, and because I like words that feel like a hug, I always skip the...

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Take your dog to work, in extreme

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 10 July 2012 13:53

“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.” —Roger Caras

The first sounds I heard when the waiting room door opened were simultaneous. A single bark, quick pattering, sniffing. And then my interviewee was at my feet.

Name: Millie

Qualities: compact beauty of royal lineage

Best features: wide-eyes, horizontal abundance

Likes: schmoozing, popcorn

Age: is just a number (but hers is 8)

The perfect day: her chair, challenge sprints to the mailbox

Several things led me to the KWCH waiting room in Wichita. It began April 14—when all the tornadoes came through—and the days following. The weather was the news at the time, so all...

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Life is easy...except when it’s not

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 26 June 2012 18:00

“College is too expensive... except when it’s not. Time is on your side... except when it’s not. Open all the time... except when it’s not. The sky is blue... except when it’s not.” —Google search headlines

There is a certain two-word phrase often tacked on to the end of fortune-cookie fortunes. It will remain unspecified at this time, but those who know it know it makes for pretty funny dinner conversation.

I have another one that fits when contemplating any thought, solicited or unsolicited suggestion, major decision and the like.

That phrase is, “except when it’s not.”* (*Subject to slight adjustment.)

As we all do from time to time, I find myself at a place where my gut is telling me to make some decisions...

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Midnight sounds can turn terrifying

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 12 June 2012 15:54

“…When he’s out in the yard, he’ll see your mother’s blackberry bushes. Seeing the blackberries will remind him of her jam. He’ll probably ask you for some. And chances are, if you give him the jam, he’ll want a muffin to go with it.” —“If You Give a Moose a Muffin,” Laura Joffe Numeroff

There are good ways to wake up and there are bad ways. Unidentifiable sounds at 2:30 a.m. are bad ways. Not hold-your-breath-why-isn’t-the-dog-growling creaks, but more of a something-is-breaking-down tap.

It was a warm night, enough to have traded open windows for the air conditioner. The sheets had since been knocked away with the blanket, the still air doing its job quite well without their help.

I closed my eyes to try to...

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