The Hammer Times

Potluck (no Jello!)

Single stories on a topic.

  • Kim Brown

    Oh, my, what an absolute treat my sister and I had this week! We connected with Kim Brown, who was one of our babysitters when we were in elementary school. It’s been decades since either of us had been in touch with her, losing track across all of our multiple moves. I googled her on Read more

  • “I’m Still Awake”: Sisterhood and Sleepy Back Rubs

    Debbie and I loved to exchange back rubs when we were in elementary school. We’d straddle each other’s backs in our summer pajamas—it was too cold not to be under the covers in the winter—massaging and chatting as sisters do. We often played, “Guess what I’m writing on your back,” spelling words one letter at Read more

  • Fighting

    I think of myself as a fighter. Not a fist-fighter, to get that out of the way at the top. I had one fist fight in my life when I was very young. My opponent was five and I was seven. I threw one punch and missed. He threw one and connected. Ow, Ow, Ow! Read more

  • ‘72 Plymouth Valiant, Two U-Hauls and Mom

    Mom likes to remind us that, “Can’t never did anything.” A farm girl from northwest Iowa, her spirit of adventure and work ethic combined typically translate into, “Sure, we can.” That can do spirit has translated into a lifetime of joint projects, many involving moving large furniture X to place Y — I inherited my Read more

  • Noise-Canceling Headphones V 2.0

    I have a pair of Bose external noise-canceling headphones. I would like a pair of internal noise-canceling headphones to block out the chatter inside my head. They could cancel out the intrusive thoughts. Or, muffle the snide remarks of the doubting Thomases gossiping from the corners of my mind. How magical it would be! Nattering Read more

  • Airplane Mode

    The human brain was not designed to take in and process information at the volume and speed at which we now receive it. Bad news used to arrive by ship or carriage weeks after the event, allowing it to age and air as it traveled. Now it pops up on our screens, fresh, raw and Read more

  • Each Day is Different

    There are no two days that are the same. Read more

  • Everybody Needs a Big Sister Like Mine

    Happy Birthday, Deborah! Read more

  • Two Girls’ Entertainment

    As the spring snow blanketed our small village, my sister and I spent hours drawing blueprints for the leaf houses we’d construct the following autumn. A leaf house, if you’ve never constructed one, is an outline of a home, with maple leaves piled about 6in. high, acting as the walls. As I recall, my outlines Read more

  • Home Town

    It was ridiculously wonderful to be back in New York! Even after a long day of cross-country travel, I still couldn’t contain my glee. To my sister’s amusement, my delight overflowed into spontaneous happy dances on the street corners waiting for the WALK sign. “I’m in New York, I’m in New York.” Going home is Read more