Howlings » mother

Chapter Three – The Voice

cale — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:13:55 +0000

May 1971, Lory State Park, Northampton, Massachusetts. Preparing for a cartwheel, I'm wearing the "$27 bathing suit."

Before leaving for his dormitory, I couldn’t resist trying on the unfinished bathing suit. I was already wearing my favorite — and only — bathing suit under my jeans, from which I had made a pattern for this [...]

Chapter One – Revere Beach

cale — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:39:45 +0000

at Revere Beach

We grew up in a city eight miles north of Boston on the ocean, a town built around a natural crescent of coastline which followed the ocean’s curve into an inlet under an arm of land called Lynn, in its cupped palm, a town called Nahant. From Revere Beach we could see [...]

Prelude: Miss American Pie

cale — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:19:44 +0000

Sweet sixteen in '67, Saranac Lake, NY

In 1968, at 16, I was a “fox.” With my All-American-Girl looks and bedroom-blue eyes I wanted to be the Marilyn Monroe of my neighborhood. Or maybe, Goldie Hawn with a bosom. Or perhaps Miss America, only short. I could picture myself walking the dais in [...]