#kathrynrishoff

New- adjective- of recent origin, production, purchase etc.

  I lost twenty-five thousand words, more than half of the words I had written for my new novel. I never did discover where they went, how they disappeared. And don’t suggest for one second that I somehow deleted them, because I didn’t. Honestly, I didn’t. I always, and yes I know you’re never supposed to say “always,” but I always wait for the message that tells me a document already exists and…

RESPONSIBILITY- noun- the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable

I just adopted a dog from my local animal shelter. He’s ten, almost eleven, so not a young dog, an older dog, a dog that lived with a family for all those years only to be taken to the pound because the family dynamics changed. I could go into details how those dynamics changed, but it doesn’t matter, the bottom line is, it became inconvenient to have the dog- he wasn’t causing anyone any harm,…

LOSS- noun- the state of being deprived of or being without something that one has had

Loss comes in many ways, we lose the games we play, the bets we make, the chances we take, and sometimes what someone sees as a loss, feels like a win to someone else. The sketchy, no nothing boyfriend who breaks up with his too good for him girlfriend may seem like a loss to the girl and a huge (crack open the champagne) win to the girl’s parents. Someone who completes a marathon and comes in…

HANGOVER- noun- the disagreeable physical aftereffects of drunkenness

  I have a hangover. It’s my first in a long time – I can’t really remember my last hangover, that’s how long it’s been. It’s not horrible, I did have a moment during my kickboxing class where I thought my stomach was going to give me cause to run for the restroom, but I managed to get things under control. In spite of the three Advil I took this morning the jumping was a bit hard on my head. All…

DOUBT- noun- a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality or nature of something.

  Doubt is a double-edged sword; on one hand it can save you from making decisions best not made. Doubt can keep you from being sucked into the infomercial’s promises and dial that number for the special offer available only for the next fifteen minutes, and if you’re one of the first one hundred callers you will receive a bonus prize valued at $49.99, and as tempting an offer it is, doubt keeps…

So much time is spent waiting. We wait for opportunity, for love, for forgiveness, for knowledge, for faith, we wait, our lives spent in anticipation of what is ahead. We wait for the mundane, for amusement park ride lines to move, for all lines to move forward so we can get to the front of the line, buy what we want and then wait again, our groceries to be bagged, our totals to be rung. Life is…

DISHEARTENED- verb- to depress the hope, courage, or spirits

The largest mass shooting in U.S. history took place last night at a gay club in Orlando, Florida. The obvious question  “why?” is being asked. There is speculation that the shooter was connected to ISIS, that social media might have driven the attack. At this point no one really knows. I just can’t understand what could motivate a human being to walk into a club and begin shooting, killing and…

SCARED- verb- to fill, especially suddenly with fear or alarm

I’m scared. The mass shooting yesterday in Orlando has me frightened beyond measure. I know not all the facts are known at this time, there might be a tie to ISIS and social media. I know the shooter’s father said his son had seen “two men kissing and didn’t like it” a few months prior to the shooting. So whether motivated by ISIS and the postings the group made against gays, or his personal…