gathering

February 2, 2023 by Laura J. Frantz

On a sunny Saturday we hosted a birthday party for a loved one. Soundtrack: Heijera — the entire LP front and back twice. I can never get enough Jaco.

We enjoyed lasagna, green salad, and sage and parsley garlic bread elbow to elbow around the Saarinen. In a departure from my usual French drama, we drank Famiglie Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2020, with a nose of sweet leather half-buried in the garden, mouthfeel like butter, and a grape jelly finish. After dinner we walked to the retaining pond, collecting Exceptional Sticks from the woods along the way.

A hike back up the hill and then we were home, singing around a homemade, lopsided, Dr. Seuss-looking lemon and wild blueberry cake with fluffy lemon buttercream frosting. After they’d gone the house fell quiet and felt empty again.

Brevity Magazine, Winter 2015

January 20, 2015 by Laura J. Frantz

My interrupted photographs illustrate the Winter 2015 issue of online literary nonfiction journal Brevity Magazine. I clucked over this project like a mother hen, and gave it the majority of my spare time in November and December, to the dismay of those I love. Now this project is out in the world, and I bend to the task of redemption.

christmas day 2012

December 28, 2012 by Laura J. Frantz

Pre-dawn whispers (I stuffed my head under a pillow and went back to sleep).
Presents opened before the eight o’clock hour.
Hot coffee from the Chemex.
Sweet, soft challah French toast eaten continental style by a bad piggie.
Organic, fresh-pressed juice to cut through the sweet.
Beautiful music streaming through the house.
Gentle, quiet focus on a new art.

christmas eve 2012

December 27, 2012 by Laura J. Frantz

For the first time, my girl helped braid the challah, her small fingers gently moving the ropes and curling in ends. We used the knife as a chisel and popped chunks of Callebaut in our mouths while we worked.

The challah baked up quick. We left the hot loaf to cool on a wire rack and drove to church, where I sat on the edge of my seat as our pastor hit all the high notes in O Holy Night. Once home I sat in my bent wood chair under my mother’s cable-knit afghan and stared at the lights on the tree.

instantdc 2011

November 4, 2011 by Laura J. Frantz

Three of my photos have been selected to be a part of the InstantDC Mobile Photography Show 2011, sponsored by the DC Ad Club and APA and in partnership with FotoweekDC. Opening night is Wednesday, November 9th at Interface Media Group, 1233 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC. I attended this same show last year as a wannabe. I moved from grouping to grouping and wondered if I’d ever be “good enough” to have anything of mine hanging next to anything of theirs. Crazy stuff.

thirty seven

June 11, 2010 by Laura J. Frantz

I turned 37 years old on an eastbound Metro train. Two German women sat talking across the aisle from me. I caught every tenth word or so. A Vietnam veteran and his family waved from the front of the car, thanking me again for guiding them through their passcard purchase back at the Vienna station. A warm and little six year-old hand rested on my belly skin for comfort. I closed my eyes and felt the curve of the tracks beneath me.