Archive: August, 2011
Goodnight, Irene
She came and she went. We spent several days with ear cocked to the weather reports, doing this and that to prepare for assault on our sovereign territory. I excavated white river stones where they had become embedded in dirt washed down from above, added a wide and deep edge of mulch and surfaced that…
No Silence about the Lambs
This year we again bought a lamb at the Harford County Fair 4-H auction. Our freezer has been lambless for some months but the decision to bid was very last-minute. A call about a week after the event let us know the amount owed, that our lamb had been delivered to Bowman’s and that we…
On the Occasion of My Dear One’s 60th High School Reunion
As we stepped off the Lantern Queen the air was muggy and dark clouds of an impending storm lined up southwest of Havre de Grace. It had been part two of a double-barrel event: dinner at Bruce Bitner’s Cafe & Grill on Saturday night, brunch and a cruise up the Susquehanna on Sunday. What a…
Detroit II: Food and Fine Art
Lynn is a natural caregiver and that means she nourishes, certainly the spirit and absolutely the body. She comes by it naturally. Her late father, Joe the Plumber, was a marvelous cook; Hungarian-kitchen lore plus the resources of Cleveland’s West Side Market meant that his dining-room table needed sturdy legs even for the most ordinary…
Detroit I: The Gap-Toothed Smile
So many bad things are said about Detroit. Television programs show a city that appears to be abandoned and newspaper headlines focus on criminal proceedings against elected officials and a devastated economy. What I found was a place of broad straight avenues carrying little traffic, astonishing architecture, some well maintained and much in ruins, and…
