In the early morning half-light, long before I would routinely switch on bedroom lamps, I drop to the floor in my nightgown to the spot where she is dozing next to my bed. She has never been much of a cuddler, preferring to demonstrate her devotion in other, more dignified ways, but on this day, I […]
A late-season malaise has settled over the wide porch, the headquarters of summer at my house. The plants are sagging moodily in the August heat, their blooms barely even tired replicas of the first brilliant bursts. The shards of a broken pot, toppled to its demise in a stormy gust of wind, remain to be […]
The calendar is a mystifying tyrant, often conveying the passage of time with mathematics that defy the heart’s reality. This week She commands me to note that this Friday marks six years since my younger sister Jane died after a long battle with breast cancer. Six years? Calendar, are you sure? I can still hear […]
It feels like a tragedy, oddly enriched by the flavors of summer: The man who picks out my cantaloupes is leaving me. Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. Were I in a life partnership with that most appealing of all men—he who cooks—such abandonment would spark a different kind of grief. Ours is a relationship […]
Consider for a moment, if you will, the peanut butter sandwich. Universal staple for a child’s mid-day meal for generation. And maybe something more. I was about to make one for Sis, my six-year-old granddaughter, at lunch time on a recent visit. Before I could say “jelly or honey with it,” here came the most […]
I was just drifting off, Kindle about to tumble from my exhausted hands, when I heard it. First, a little squeak, sort of, and I looked at the strangely garrulous cat, but she was dozing soundlessly on her corner of the mattress. My granddaughter was sleeping over and had been out for more than two […]
If the grandkids are awake, breathing, and on the premises, questions are buzzing like bees swarming a hive in summer. There is nothing to stoke the mental agility, touch the heart, and occasionally terrify the soul of a grandparent more than the questions these little varmints hurl at you. Here’s a sample of my Top […]
Our neighborhood recycling center is a favorite destination in the regular loop of stops that constitutes the ordinary weekly errands routine. Odd, I’ll admit, but there’s something so satisfying about hurling trash into a giant bin, standing aside the various weekend-attired neighbors with the same mission, knowing it is one small thing that is easily […]