words & art by shé

bookshelf

Tag: short humorous personal essay

  • Swim Friend

    “Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.” —Rumi It was a whale. Beneath me and to the right, similar to where the dolphin had been tracking me in April. I was on my fifth length, speaking a healing mantra as I swam out into the Gulf of California. A small whale,…

  • Unleashed

    The Little Yellow Dog Gang cares not a wit for leash laws. No collars, no microchips, no fixed address, but heaps of street smarts. Yes, I’ve named them:—Valiente, the leader, male, yellow fur, floppy ears, joyful, the smallest—Beatrice, the biggest, barrel-shaped, dark brown, female, ready to rumble—Emma, shy, fine-boned, black, bat ears, female, youngest All…

  • Humorous & Haunting

    The funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time (other than the Little Yellow Dog Gang, which continues to amuse) is a video of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra performing Ennio Morricone’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Particularly the perfectly coiffed woman singing, “Wah wah wah.”  Then the sparkly-dressed conductor leads them into beauty. A…

  • Adopted

    “Love purifies. Suffering never purified anybody; suffering merely intensifies the self-directed drives within us. Any act of love, however—no matter how small—lessens anxiety’s grip, gives us a taste of tomorrow, and eases the yoke of our fears. Love, unlike virtue, is not its own reward. The reward of love is peace of mind, and peace…

  • Benevolence

    Three years in México and the language still gets away from me. To be fair, I’ve had huge misunderstandings with people in English; Spanish simply adds spice. Yesterday, slogging back from provisioning, towing the wagon, the gatekeeper at the athletic field asked, “¿Se vende?” The fatigued interpreter in my brain translated this to “What did…

  • Compañera

    Tired from a late night, I eased into the ocean and stroked away from shore after dawn. Several meters out, my eyes snagged on a large fish, same length as me, swimming in the same direction, though below and to the right. Long body, long nose, silvery gray in the gloom. My brain then registered…

  • Stinky

    Early one morning in Olympia, Emmett and I went for a ramble and swim at Priest Point Park. Much to his delight, he found a rotting salmon corpse to roll in. Oh, the joy! Not a problem for me until the return drive home, Emmett in the back seat. The stench! Even with all the…

  • Napping Near the Military

    Returning to the States to sign documents, I pulled off the highway to rest, engaging four-wheel-drive. The great thing about México is that you can follow a dirt road as the whim strikes. Many times they lead to interesting places. Sometimes not. I was tired and anxious, and found a spot behind some boulders and…