Adele Elliott: Telling creative lies

A few semesters ago I took a class at the W called Creative Non-Fiction. In spite of the course’s oxymoronic title it was fun, and I learned a lot. The premise was that all truth is based on point of view. Two people could tell the story of a shared experience and each version would be entirely different.

Adele Elliott: Wicked winds

Storm clouds are all around us these days. Literal or symbolic, we are in the midst of eruptions made by God and made by man.

Adele Elliott: Wedding bell blues

It’s been a wild week for weddings. The Prince William and Kate Middleton nuptials were the big news. I was a bit dismayed that my invitation somehow did not catch up with me. Wrong address, I suppose.

Adele Ellott: Resurrection

Easter is a time of rebirth. No matter if Christian or pagan, most cultures find comfort in renewal. We celebrate the return of flowers from their winter’s sleep, and the risen Christ.

Adele Elliott: Forever young

It is said that, when we die, our life flashes before our eyes. We experience a sort of review, revealing our good deeds and a few things that might evoke regret. That may be true. But, in some ways, my life is already a constant re-run of events.

Adele Elliott: Poetic license

T. S. Eliot must have been a bit dyslexic. He added an extra “L” in the word cruelest and omitted an “L” and a “T” in his last name. (My opinion, only). Still, he was an amazing poet.

Adele Elliott: Pilgrim’s progress

History is rich with stories of pilgrims. Sometimes they are fleeing religious persecution. They may be traveling toward Mecca, the shrine of a special saint, or even a battlefield.

Adele Elliott: Designing woman

This week, my homepage had the nerve to suggest quick fixes for my décor dilemmas.

Adele Elliott: We are all Japanese

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Adele Elliott: The party’s over

Last weekend was a wild one in Columbus. We celebrated Mardi Gras downtown, turning Main and Fifth Streets into a mini French Quarter, with bands and artists and horse-drawn carriages. Saturday night, the Kudzu Social Aid and Pleasure Club took to the streets, with a costumed procession fashioned after the walking krewes of New Orleans.

Adele Elliott: Teach your children well

“Teach your children well … and feed them on your dreams … ”

When Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sang those lyrics in about 1970, many families were waging war with each other.

Adele Elliott: Scarlet spring

A handful of yellow crocus poke their heads from under dry, brown leaves in one corner of what once was a garden. Persephone is emerging from the underworld. She reaches, tentatively, from Hades, but I almost wonder why.

Adele Elliott: Imaginary friends

Once upon a time, only children had imaginary friends. This was probably because they live rich fantasy lives. One of my favorite cousins truly believed that Dorothy, from “The Wizard of Oz,” was her friend. Nevermind that a middle-aged Judy Garland died years before Natalia was born.

Adele Elliott: Comfort me with cocoa

Tomorrow may be the holiday that inspires more angst than all the others combined. Love can seem elusive, meant for other people.

Adele Elliott: Egyptology

When I was a very young child I was fascinated by anything Egyptian. My cats were named Anthony, Cleopatra and Nefertiti. I thought Egyptians wore lots of dark eye liner and walked in a strange twisted way, with their hands held in an uncomfortable, stiff pose.

Adele Elliott: Dress codes

Ever since Eve was forced to vacate the Garden of Eden and give up her wardrobe of leaves, the question of what to wear has been foremost on women’s minds.

Adele Elliott: Dress codes

Ever since Eve was forced to vacate the Garden of Eden and give up her wardrobe of leaves, the question of what to wear has been foremost on women’s minds.

Adele Elliott: Brother’s keeper

The death of Hozzie Hawthorne last week was painful to so many in our area. There is something surreal about the knowledge that an old man could freeze to death in this place known as “The South.”

Adele Elliott: Lessons from Chicken Little

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Well, not really. But, when the heavens seem unable to hold birds, and the lakes and oceans cannot support sea life, it is not difficult to make the leap to doomsday.

Adele Elliott: Happy ‘New’ Year

This is the time of year when the trivial seems extraordinary. Dates on the calendar have intense significance. Friday night’s midnight deemed more momentous than every other midnight of the year. Bowl games and playoffs are anointed with profound importance. Rah! — for the colleges. Rah! Rah! — for the Super Bowl.