Random Selections from the Blog
Click here for another random selectionCrocheted Colors and Knotted Lives
The effect is not quite as I wanted. Pam’s bridal bouquet included flowers that shone like molten gold in the Texas sun. The stripes I hook are wine-red, heather-ish green, coral, eggshell and black. The colors are close enough, though. The blanket is for the baby, a first child, who is due somewhere around February….
WWI: Nice Digs
We have only a few days left before we must find our way to Aéroport Charles de Gaulle. The penultimate day of our travels, Friday, carries the magical numbers 11-11-11. At 11 o’clock I hope to be focused on that moment 93 years ago when the War to End All Wars ended. Today, however, I…
A Costume Drama for the World
A student stayed after class this past week to ask a question. She seemed a little hesitant and I encouraged her to go ahead. “Are you watching The Borgias?” She blushed. “Now in what universe would I not be watching a costume drama with Jeremy Irons in the lead role,” I answered. In what universe…
I Got to See the Ponies
I love horses. I always have. I was a typically horse-crazy girl, collecting china figurines, assembling the stable of my dreams on note cards (drawing on one side, statistics on the other), reading everything published by Walter Farley and Marguerite Henry as well as every story featuring a horse I could find. When my Dear…
An English Wedding 10: Eating, Drinking and Navigating
We prefer not to be dependent on restaurants. They serve too much, they cost too much, and they simply are not convenient. Sunday night we got to the Bee at Burnham about half past five. The kitchen was closed. Sundays and holidays do tend to be a problem; we nearly starved to death in Paris…
The “F” Word
Why has the “F” word become so indispensable to—dare I make the pun—daily intercourse? As a verb it exudes hostility. As an adverb it displaces countless positive and negative modifiers more explicit, poetic, and expressive. The “F” word seems to be in constant use, in music, film and television, in conversation, and on Facebook. I…
Stumbles on the Rose-Petal Path
I am generally uneasy when things go too smoothly. Clarity of vision and ease of execution merely lull one into a dream state. Stumbling, however, keeps one awake and alert. Take the rings, for instance. After a flurry of shopping-like activity, we chose a ring that is perfection itself. When it arrived, we were also…
WWI: Blue Cows and Saints
I lay in bed and listened to the rain insistent on the roof. We would go to Liffol-le-Grand, I decided. Liffol-le-Grand is one of the small towns near Neufchatel, an administrative center of the American Expeditionary Force, which provided housing for soldiers. It was where, in late October, my grandfather David Cutler was billeted with…
Next Great Artist 7: Playing with Lint
I cannot begin to express how much I dislike China Chow. I dislike everything about her and when she turns to the “winner” and says, “You made a true work of art,” I just wanna send her to her room for a permanent time-out. A list-serve friend described episode seven as “a quantum leap down.” …
Knowing What Not To Wear doesn’t mean The Right Things To Wear are available in my size
Physical decay is inevitable. Poor hearing is diminished by the constant whine of tinnitus. Myopia gets more myopic. Bulges expand and gravity pulls them downward. I’ve been test-driving my new “desk specs” and they improve my posture—I no longer hunch forward and bring my nose up to the monitor screen. My ophthalmologist had recommended trifocals…
