Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Books that Traveled with Me

Posted on January 5, 2023 by allisongreenwriter

Maybe it’s the pandemic; maybe it’s social media rotting my brain; maybe it’s the grief and stress of handling my father’s estate and taking care of my mother, who has Alzheimer’s, but I have found it difficult lately to read … Continue reading →

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New Publication: “The Scallop Shell”

Posted on May 18, 2022 by allisongreenwriter

The Keepthings is a beautiful journal, lovingly edited by Deborah Way, about the people we’ve lost and how we remember them. I encourage you to follow this page on Instagram and read more of these sweet and tender essays.

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Birthdays Past

Posted on April 4, 2022 by allisongreenwriter

There’s something magical about our parents’ lives in the years just before and after we were born. Or maybe it’s only me that finds them magical. My parents met, fell in love, and made me. Out of nothing, something. Out … Continue reading →

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On Reading Rebecca Brown’s New Book, You Tell the Stories You Need to Believe

Posted on December 15, 2021 by allisongreenwriter

Spring At dusk, six of us walked the long stretch of sand at Cannon Beach, Oregon: three lesbians in butch haircuts and jean jackets, two gay men, and me. I had befriended them in college, but now that I had … Continue reading →

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Prayer

Posted on October 15, 2021 by allisongreenwriter

Since my father died unexpectedly in May of a massive stroke and my mother was subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the only book I have been able to get myself to read is Pema Chödrön’s When Things Fall Apart. The … Continue reading →

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Soup

Posted on December 26, 2020 by allisongreenwriter

Chop leeks, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Sauté in olive oil until soft. I cook in our small kitchen, chopping on the butcher block cart, and looking down occasionally at the street where masked people walk on their way to the … Continue reading →

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On the Beach

Posted on July 25, 2020 by allisongreenwriter

At the north end of the campground, in a compound of recreational vehicles, a tall pole sported the Stars and Stripes and the Gadsden flag – the yellow one with the snake hissing, “Don’t tread on me,” the one associated … Continue reading →

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Dispatch from Seattle #1

Posted on March 20, 2020 by allisongreenwriter

I opened the Zoom meeting on March 9, and as my students’ faces appeared before bedroom walls, living room windows, and closets, one blurted, “How sad that we aren’t together!” Sorrow washed over me. It was the last Monday of … Continue reading →

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Apocalypse

Posted on December 27, 2018 by allisongreenwriter

“Let’s start with the end of the world, why don’t we?” So begins N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, which appeared under our Christmas tree wrapped in cheerful, glittery paper. Arline gave me the boxed Broken Earth trilogy, knowing I’ve been … Continue reading →

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Toasted

Posted on August 16, 2018 by allisongreenwriter

A week ago, the sky above Seattle turned hazy, and an eerie orange sunlight fell across our hardwood floors. The air smelled burnt, toasted. Yesterday, we had the worst air quality for a twenty-four-hour period in recorded history. Almost exactly … Continue reading →

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