Author: Holly Metesh

“Do you want to go to the woods today?” Groans where there used to be cheers.Steady steps with long legs when there used to be running, wild feet.The nature center stopped calling to them.Sometimes, parenting means witnessing the end of an era right in front of your eyes.Sometimes the loss is like a little death.… Continue reading Like we used to.

“Mom? No offense, but I don’t really like history. It’s kind of…boring.” “Oh, that’s ok. You don’t have to be like me. But hey, we’re still going to learn about some of this, ok?” “Ok.” Five years have passed since this was said.We’ve done the museums,the living books,the hands-on things.We’ve visited the sites, watched the… Continue reading Playing the Slow Game

It all happens between two chiseled numbers.A lifetime of heartache, drama, joy, milestones, and mundane tasks—-all represented by a dash. I’ve seen more headstones than I can count.I used to read them on walks through the town cemetery when I was in high school, stopping at familiar stones to rest on a nearby bench.Images of… Continue reading Between two numbers

Somewhere, between “woke” and “whitewashed”, is what really happened. These terms are modern inventions, of course.They reflect the feelings and perceptions of the generations who coined them. Future historians will barely acknowledge these terms, and one day, they will fade from existence altogether. The people who inhabit this land won’t relate to these perceptions, or… Continue reading Woke and White Washed

Once, I was dunked under the water at a youth group pool party. Immediately afterwards, someone cannonballed directly on top of me. For what seemed like an eternity, I was underwater and upside down. It was probably no more than a few seconds. But with the noise and the flailing bodies in the water, I… Continue reading Bursting for air

Bias isn’t evil: it’s human. Humans tell a story with their own particular words, ideas, and emotions. They flavor it with uniqueness. They’re products of their own time, generation, geographical location, and communities. Unlike a dictionary or thesaurus, humans make the story interesting. The problem isn’t bias: it’s the damage to that bias can do… Continue reading Bias is human

Sometimes I feel pressure to always write something profound here, something important and historic. Something shareable. But the truth is that most of my life is mundane.Driving, grocery shopping, teaching, folding laundry. Co-op, church, meeting with friends.There’s nothing really epic happening. And I think that’s the story for people of the past, too: they just… Continue reading Pressure

When I was a child, the bad guy was easy to recognize: you would just wait for sinister music to play on a Disney screen. And after an hour and a half, you would cheer at his demise. As you grow into adulthood, you witness upstanding citizens imprisoned for heinous crimes no one expected. You… Continue reading Disney villains

Once you think like a historian, it’s nearly impossible to stop. Ordinary days become a part of the historic record.Holidays offer the opportunity to become a part of a community’s shared cultural and historical experiences.Meeting a new person, taking a new job, or even taking a different way home from the store is rife with… Continue reading Thinking like a historian