Article Archives: Words with Woods

Fall Down, Go Boom

May 19, 2022 | by CJ Woods III

A post on a social media site surprised me by using language that I had used with my daughter. When she was a toddler and came to us crying, her mother and I would ask her, “Did you fall down, go boom?” The post was about a song from the … Read More

The Elements Of A Column

May 12, 2022 | by CJ Woods III

This column first appeared in the December 14, 2017 issue. When asked how I come up with ideas for my columns, I struggle to explain my creative process. Some of my columns are born “full-grown,” while my other “children” have to be nurtured and cultivated before being sent into the … Read More

Friends

May 5, 2022 | by CJ Woods III

“You have good friends,” my mother said to me, shortly before she died. She was in a hospice in Maryland, and I had traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to visit her. On that day, our reminiscences were specifically about one of my friends who, on her journey with her husband … Read More

The Great Morel Hunt

April 28, 2022 | by CJ Woods III

The text from a friend lit like a fly on a trout stream, asking if I wanted to go morel hunting and hiking for a bit. I hit the bait hard, and Wes Homoya reeled me in. He advised me to dress appropriately and to bring water and snacks, so … Read More

Space And Air

April 21, 2022 | by CJ Woods III

There is a phenomenon in television and movie dialogue where various characters say that they want some “space,” or that they need to “get some air.” There is nothing about the circumstances that bring about these comments to indicate a surfeit of either space or air. These types of verbal … Read More