Contemporary essays, fiction, and opinion offered regularly by author Anne Brandt.






Question for the week
How might I punctuate the following sentence? Students, stop cutting in line(?)stop throwing food(?)and stop leaving trash.
Ten minutes to
write.
Less time to
read.
A Day with Friends
Posted: 11/12/07
If ever you want to see your own community through fresh eyes, invite a couple friends who don’t live there to spend the day. You’ll come away with a renewed appreciation of what your locale offers.

That’s what happened to Earl and me today. Bob and Karen, friends from Chicago, came to visit. We started with brunch at our house and then branched out to visit the new condo development where Earl and I have purchased our next home. After that we drove into downtown St. Joseph to visit trendy antique stores and trendier accessory shops. Then we walked to the end of the lighthouse pier (Karen in heels) that is the city’s most identifiable landmark before having dinner in another local landmark, Schu’s Retaurant on the bluff that over looks Lake Michigan.

These are places Earl and I had begun to take for granted. We visit them regularly, but had probably forgotten they are some of the reasons we moved here originally. Without knowing it, both Bob and Karen reminded us of the seductive small-town charm that is St. Joe. We have completely bought into the culture, but there is one thing that grates sometimes. No matter how long we live here we will always be outsiders to the locals. Newcomers at best.

They should have heard us today extolling the merits of life here in St. Joe.


Click here to send this
mini-essay to a friend.


Previous entries
Due to the volume of entries, Anne's Ten Minutes A Day are now categorized by date and by topics. Some essays are found under more than one topic.

Click here for a chronological list.

Otherwise, select from the categories below.

2004 Election2008 ElectionAnnoyances
Changing SceneDining/FoodFlora/Fauna
Me/FamilyNostalgiaPersonal Pleas
PoliticsSmall Town LifeSpecial Events
TechnologyThings to PonderTravel
Writing