If I don’t do it, who will? If you’re walking down an empty street far away from the nearest fire station, and come upon a burning house, you’re going to have to ask yourself this question if you suspect someone inside needs rescuing. The question is also going to come up if you’re the only …Read More
The snow was so deep that I had to put on my rain wellies to keep my socks dry when I went outside to feed the birds Friday evening. Thursday, I had added a big scoop of sunflower seed to the main feeder and jerry-rigged a broken suet feeder so the more adventuresome woodpeckers (we …Read More
There’s something about an incoming snow storm that makes me feel like nesting. Instead of writing, I spent most of the afternoon scraping our very long driveway of 1/4 inch of sleet. There’s a large hill involved, and my beloved had yet to return from teaching his last classes of the semester. I confess I …Read More
How hard is it for you to unplug? To turn off your cell phone, computer, tablet, television (yes, television counts)? I’m finding it increasingly hard to do. The last few days I’ve found myself obsessively checking Facebook and Twitter. I’ve begun to suspect it has something to do with my addiction to natural dopamine. In …Read More
If you know me, you know I’m all about the lists. Here’s a pic of a list my daughter wrote on one of my lists earlier this year. It cracked me up because the poor child has suffered my lists for all 21 years of her life. I don’t make lists for absolutely everything, though …Read More
The writer John Edward Williams has been dead since 1994, but I am apologizing to him anyway. Months ago, I began hearing many amazing things about his 1965 novel, Stoner, which details the life of a midwestern English professor of little fame and consequence. Curious, I bought the audio book just before embarking on one …Read More
My mother’s father, Howard Baugh, came from a family of long-Americanized Germans. It never occurred to me that not everyone’s family ate pickles in everything from potato and egg salad to lunchmeat. (Don’t get me started on pickle/pimento loaf!) Beer was the grown-ups’ adult beverage of choice–though I confess I never saw any of my …Read More