CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Come Sing

September 5, 2024 | by CJ Woods III

In January of this year, the Editor-in-Chief and the Creative Director of this publication both alerted me to the possibility of joining a gathering of singers. Ethel Winslow and Paula Nicewanger are “long-suffering earwitnesses to my outbursts of song,” and pointed me toward a more structured singing experience with The … Read More

The Dead Box

August 29, 2024 | by CJ Woods III

This column first appeared in June 2013. “I have to get you your inheritance,” my mother joked. “It’s in the dead box.” “Mom: I don’t want to talk about the dead box.” “You need to know what to do when I’m dead,” my mother grumbled. She handed me my inheritance: … Read More

Dear

August 22, 2024 | by CJ Woods III

This column first appeared in July 2011. The breeze on my face did nothing to cool me as I gallumped across the wild grasses. I brought my steed to a halt, swiveled in the saddle to check my back trail. The hill behind me fell gently into a valley where … Read More

The Bottle Farm

August 15, 2024 | by CJ Woods III

On my way from home and toward the Irvington Presbyterian Church, I passed a house at the corner of Lowell and Layman Streets. In my 1.2 mile walk to the place where I practiced singing in preparation for a choral performance with Harmony Collected, an arts group affiliated with the … Read More

Out of Tune

August 8, 2024 | by CJ Woods III

This column first appeared in the Aug. 5, 2016 issue. “The world is too much with us; late and soon, / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; / We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” — William Wordsworth … Read More