Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

How I Forgot 2023

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 30, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 6 Comments on How I Forgot 2023

Going back through my 2023 date book to add recurring appointments to the 2024 book was eye-opening. It made me see how I forgot 2023. I could easily remember some wonderful new developments in my life in 2023. The Contemplative Writing Group, for one. My informal group of NOLA women asking the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana to own up to its founding...

March of the Marys

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 24, 2023. Posted in Featured, GOD. 4 Comments on March of the Marys

Each day for three weeks a new Mary appeared on the table. A 3D Advent calendar. A march toward Christmas. You think I like Mary? On this the last day of Advent, I still have Marys left scattered around the house. Tomorrow, they will burst forth and scurry to the table to join their sisters in Christ in their jubilant March of the Marys. Mary...

Let the Magic Be

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 23, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD. 6 Comments on Let the Magic Be

I am a woman who likes a stool for my feet. Stepping stones along a garden path, too. I want my dog nestled beside me on the screened porch, holding watch—trespassers beware! Which reminds me of Winnie-the-Pooh and “Trespassers Will” a remnant of a sign hanging in The Hundred Acre Woods. I always identified with this woods because my...

The Comfort of Winter

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 15, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD. 10 Comments on The Comfort of Winter

I am thinking today about how I’ve always hated fall for being the death of summer, but I’ve never split that from my love of winter. In a short story, I gave the narrator the sentiment that he loved Mississippi best in winter when color kicked in. Yellow grass, orange sage, black limbs against the clarified sky. In summer, Mississippi...

Clothes I Once Knew

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 13, 2023. Posted in FASHION, Featured, General. 14 Comments on Clothes I Once Knew

Sometimes my mind drifts to clothes I once knew but do no more. Ask my clothes, they’d say, “All my friends are donated.” No, not the grey flannel shorts I bought at Loehman’s when I was in my second year at UVa–I still have those and, come winter, I wear them. But the short black Secret Agent Man trench coat I bought...

A Walk on Milan

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 25, 2023. Posted in General. 6 Comments on A Walk on Milan

We follow our usual route for a walk on Milan Street: away from the river and toward the lake, though at this distance Pontchartrain is a mere idea. At the end of Milan, we turn left on Magazine. That’s a street, not a periodical. The asphalt of Milan is gravelly, its edges bleeding into St. Augustine runners. Magazine is a proper street with...

What is a Gratitude Attitude?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 23, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, LOVE. 2 Comments on What is a Gratitude Attitude?

“I’ve got a gratitude attitude,” the kids sang in their joyful voices this week on Grandparents Day. And the emails arriving in my inbox on this Thanksgiving Day encourage an attitude of gratitude. Some religious, some touting its emotional benefits. My friend who died of cancer back when I was on Facebook posted every day at least...

Writing Alchemy

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 18, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Writing. 10 Comments on Writing Alchemy

To take everyday ingredients and create magic out of them. That’s what happened this morning at City Park: writing alchemy. The ordinary: beignets. Okay, maybe beignets aren’t so ordinary. Puffed dough, fried ’til airy inside and crispy on the out, smothered in confectioner’s sugar. (I’m not exaggerating; I swear...

Mushrooms or Martians?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 16, 2023. Posted in Featured, General. 10 Comments on Mushrooms or Martians?

We have rain. For the first time in months. Two drops, and now we’ve got mushrooms in the courtyard. That’s the way New Orleans is. Nothing by halves. These are not your everyday button-cute mushrooms (see my previous sentence). These are huge mushrooms. White with round tops like Martian ships. Big Martian ships, hovering together....

Veterans Day 2023

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 12, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, LOVE. 6 Comments on Veterans Day 2023

This Veterans Day 2023, I’m remembering our early days of living in New Orleans. I would often ride the City of New Orleans train from Memphis to the city. One trip, I was standing in the line at the canteen—trains have snack bars on their lower levels where you can buy drinks and chips. Shortly before, our armed services had lifted their “Don’t...