Chris is a handyman who can do anything around the house and yard that one man working alone can do. His work is stellar but getting to know Chris takes time. After five years of working for me, I only knew his name and that he lived in Winder, nothing more. His clothes offer no clues and are meant for outside work. The t-shirts he wears over his thin six-foot frame are pristine when he arrives. And though his work shoes are patched with duct tape, the tape is neat and evenly applied. His grey, straggly beard hangs half way down his chest with equally long grey hair pulled back in a pony tail covered with a baseball cap, never the same cap. He looks the part of a fifty-year-old single man who works with his hands…
Author Archives: leararhodes
Leara’s Lore #3: Article Coming Soon
“A Place Jesse Freeman Calls Home” is a profile on a man who is a writer, storyteller and producer of stories using his own voice to define place and community. I wrote the profile for Lake Oconee Living Magazine and it should be in print and online in September. I have known Jesse for several years
Leara’s Lore #2: Students Who Set Goals Often Succeed
Every time my cell phone shows that “Lilly” is calling, I slide open the phone for a conversation that will share insights into art, theatre, travel, politics, friends we have in common, adventures, new projects, and always new ideas. As a student in my feature writing class, she sat on the front row and robustly…
Leara’s Lore #1: In Memory of Christy Gray
Every time I entered her cottage I was greeted with a shout of “Big Love” from another room. And though she was a bigger than life person, both in stature and in spirit, she would appear soon, that was before cancer, or call you to come to where she was once cancer was diagnosed and her movements were restricted. Her positive attitude was contagious…
Last day of class at UCD
The students presented their website to the staff of the UCD Summer program. They talked about their stories, were animated in their descriptions, and made me quite proud of them and their accomplishments. After class I met up with Maruja (my former graduate student who lives in Dublin) and we had lunch and talked andContinue reading “Last day of class at UCD”
Private Lives at the Gate Theatre, Dublin
Idling around the upper section above the Liffey River in Dublin, I had a ticket to see “Private Lives.” I got there early and they were serving tea in china cups in the lobby for early patrons. The doors opened into an old but renovated theatre with no center aisle but cushioned seats. I wasContinue reading “Private Lives at the Gate Theatre, Dublin”
High Tea at UCD
High Tea at the University College Dublin was to be an event we were not to miss. The administration told us that we needed to register to attend. The registration would open at 9 AM. At 9:05 AM, the program assistant interrupted class to alert the students that the registration was open. Every student immediatelyContinue reading “High Tea at UCD”
Galway Trip with 18 people
Warnings shot through my brain when the 3 trips to the Hueston Train station resulted in our group booking did not allow us to print out the tickets…no one, program assistant, me, nor the Duty Officer in charge. So….we boarded the train with our booking page only and the duty officer’s card with all ofContinue reading “Galway Trip with 18 people”
Stones in his pockets
I saw a play tonight. There was a dinner in the banquet hall before. The rain was fierce and I had to hop off the bus after a 20 minute ride was taking an hour and walk to Wood Quay and the Smock Theatre. I was late and sat at trestle tables with other folks.Continue reading “Stones in his pockets”
Jazz Brunch and Macintosh
Sunday morning in Dublin had 12 tour buses unloading on Nassau Street outside of Trinity College with hundreds of people walking on the sidewalks. My first reaction was there would be no way I would get a table at the Kilkenny Design Store upstairs restaurant where they have a jazz brunch. Working in my favorContinue reading “Jazz Brunch and Macintosh”
Leara Rhodes 