Author Archives: averyellk

Saturday Reprise Averyell A. Kessler The TV is blaring and it’s time for the evening news. I wonder which new miracle drug will be advertised tonight. As always, it will feature the final three letters of the alphabet, as well a few Q’s and V’s tossed in. During the first commercial break, it occurs. AContinue reading “The Best Medicine©”

Averyell A. Kessler Reading is an intimate experience, intensely physical as well as mental. Nothing equals settling into a comfortable chair or a pile of pillows and opening a just-bought book. It’s the soft scratch of turning pages; the slight aroma of paper and ink. As I remove the jacket and finger the binding, IContinue reading “Addicted©”

Averyell A. Kessler Saturday Reprise My father never heard the words Big Green Egg. He did not believe dinosaurs still roamed the earth, and Dr. Seuss’s famous book hadn’t yet been published. If anyone had mentioned a gas grill, he would have asked how to attach it to the pump at a filing station. OurContinue reading “Sweet Land ©”

Averyell A. Kessler I wrote this several years ago and post it before every 4th of July. For me, the Fourth of July is a silver dollar day. My grandfather, WG Avery, started this tradition and it goes way back. When he opened his business in Jackson, he celebrated the Fourth by giving each ofContinue reading “Silver Dollar Day©”

Averyell A. Kessler At the end of March, the glitter of my Christmas presents began to fade. I’d played Risk and Chinese Checkers a hundred times, I knew who done it in my new Nancy Drew books, and Mama tired of the relentless buzz of my Operation game and removed the batteries.  Winter weekends wereContinue reading “A Box and a Bump©”

Averyell A. Kessler I was inching toward the sixth grade when Mama loaded me into the front seat of her Chevy and announced. “It’s time.” “Time for what?” I asked. “A brassiere,” she said simply. I blanched. “Oh no,” I said. “I can’t……………” “Honey, you’re growing up. Remember, we talked about it.” “Not yet,” IContinue reading “Growing Up©”

Averyell A. Kessler Saturday Reprise I watched closely as Hattie Jean Peaster leaned toward an oak- framed mirror hanging over her dressing table and inspected her face. When she opened her purse and withdrew a shiny tube of Revlon’s Fire Engine Red, I knew something was up. She’d already changed into a Sunday School dressContinue reading “Watermelon©”

Averyell A. Kessler – For Father’s Day Saturday was apple pie day at our house on Laurel Street.  It was an essential part of my parents’ weekend traditions that welcomed little variation. On Friday night they played bridge with our neighbors, passing around bowls of mixed nuts, nibbling multicolored mints, and sipping Jack Daniels andContinue reading “Raisin Pie©”

Saturday Reprise Averyell A. Kessler My mother was astounded when I announced I wanted saddle shoes. “They’re for children,” she said.  “You’ve outgrown them.” “Not now,” I answered. “Everybody has them.” “Everybody?” she asked. “Almost everybody,” I continued. “It’s a thing.” “Oh yes,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I know about things.” I was inContinue reading “The Lemming Quadrille ©”

Averyell A. Kessler I am only child, so my mother had one shot at raising a “normal” child. I’m not exactly sure what normal meant in those days; maybe well-adjusted, eager to learn, mannerly, and in possession of minimum social skills. Maybe something else, but Belhaven folks smiled at polite children and shooed neighborhood troublemakersContinue reading “Summertime Smiles©”