-
New to Five Minute Observations? Welcome. I’m Joe Class III, and I write stories and essays about what I notice, the encounters that reveal something true, and the moments that stick with you after they’re gone. If you’re just getting started, these three pieces will give you a sense of what this space is about:…
-
I’m not sure I’m smart enough to understand how it works or what it is. I’m no scientist. I’m not a researcher. But I do know what creative thinking looks like. I know how my brain works, creating a solution from nothing. But can I paint like Michaelangelo? Not even if I wanted to! Can…
-
“For fifteen years, I’ve lived out here. On the streets of Portland, Oregon, you can find any kind of substance or alcohol if you are willing to pay the price. I’d rather keep my mind free of all that garbage. They gave me meds once upon a time for schizophrenia, but the voices told me…
-
Words matter. Like more than you thought they did. Wrong words can do irreparable damage for however long you have left of your life. Kids don’t know what words have the potential to do by uttering the simplest of words and phrases. The more you think about it, the more you start to understand how…
-
“Well, well, well. I wondered if I would ever see you again, Zack.” I recognized the voice. Not the hair, makeup, and clothes. I closed my eyes, wondering if it might help me remember the perfume she wore. It didn’t. I must’ve looked like a deer caught in headlights standing at the valet station because…
-
“Put what you want into the universe. It will come back to you.” Bracelets on both wrists jangled as she touched my nose with her index finger. “Promise.” The smile and her words warmed me. She stood before me, wearing a flowing broom skirt, her sliver-streaked hair touching her shoulders with a sunflower tucked behind…
-
Tuesday morning, June 4, 2014. It’s burned in my memory because I got a call at 8:17 A.M. interrupting a brief meeting with the senior pastor. Our discussion included the need to improve outreach, which started with building healthy relationships in our congregation. The voice on the other end of the phone sounded strange. Distraught.…
-
San Francisco, Pier 39. In the late 1980s, as a junior in high school living in the suburbs of Dublin, California, this was the place to be. The things you saw downtown were edgy. Skinheads. Mohawks. Different colored hair. Piercings, similar to the ones you see today, were the norm. Ripped jeans. Leather jackets.…
-
You expect certain sounds in Tualatin in the evening. Cars driving over the pavement, catching every uneven section with a thunk-thunk. The acceleration and deceleration of semi-trucks, some shifting up or down. It all depends on their speed. Whether or not they catch the beginning or end of a traffic light’s cycle will determine the…
-
“Tamara.” Ms. Geri never raised her voice. “You owe her an apology.” “Do not!” The four-year-old girl shouted at her pre-K teacher. “She started it. Not me. She owes me an a-po-golly. Why do I have to say sorry when I’m not?” Tamara pulled on the braid her mom put in her hair. “I…
Stories. Enjoy!
