Adventures with Ping 01: Getting to Know Her

Adventures with Ping 01: Getting to Know Her

Ping is my first “rescue.” I committed to the adoption sight unseen and she traveled to Newington, Connecticut, all the way from Corpus Christi, Texas. I trusted the organization and the foster-mom. What the heck. I really wanted—I needed—what my friend Gary calls a...
The Words We Are Willing To Hear

The Words We Are Willing To Hear

Back in the late nineteen-sixties, I clipped a cartoon from The New Yorker, at a time that urban renewal was doing its worst in a variety of Boston neighborhoods. The picture was a pair of little old ladies sitting on a train, one speaking to the other. The caption...
Paul Caponigro 1932-2024

Paul Caponigro 1932-2024

Obituaries mark with increasing insistence the evanescence of my own memories. A notice reminds me of this musician or that scholar or politician or athlete. On Friday, November 29, 2024, the day after Thanksgiving, it was the loss of the great photographer, Paul...
Hugh Hayden: Home Work

Hugh Hayden: Home Work

I am good—pretty good—at keeping my hands in my pockets or clasped behind my back while in an art museum. Rules keep the art safe. Even so, between my poor eyesight and exuberance in the presence of objects of wonder, I have driven a number of guards on two continents...
Family Stories 1: Witches, Part One

Family Stories 1: Witches, Part One

I’ve been called a witch often enough. Most of the time, I think that meant the word that started with a “b,” although the term chosen makes no difference to me or my sense of self-esteem. It certainly made a difference my 7th great-grand-dad Samuel Wardwell...