January 6th, 2011 | General
My Dear One says, “I don’t know anyone who likes riding subways except you.” He laughs. I smile. He’s right; I do like riding public transportation, at least in Boston. I told him that it makes me feel like a teenager again, and it does. The feeling is not so much a...
December 22nd, 2010 | Friends, General
I anthropomorphize. Pretty much everything, all the time. Of course, I idealize, too. Not only do I see creatures as human, but I see them as beings of the kind that I wish people were. I don’t always think about this tendency, but I have been more aware of it...
November 30th, 2010 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General
Culinary experiments are rarely a good thing when guests will be sitting down to eat. Most of the time. This Thanksgiving I caught myself paying undue attention to recipes and cooking tips in the days leading up to the annual Day of Gratitude. It was not that I was...
November 24th, 2010 | Genealogy, General, Holidays
I have honored Santa Argenta, the patron saint of gleaming metal, and polished silver twinkles on the table I have set for the first of our pair of Thanksgiving dinners, the modest meal I share with my Dear One and my Tattooed Boy on Thursday evening that precedes the...
November 7th, 2010 | General, Society at Large
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...
November 3rd, 2010 | General, Society at Large
I cast my ballot yesterday. Today I wonder how anyone could not have voted—especially considering the preponderance of morons on the rolls. Okay, I understand people who hold political views different from mine are not a priori morons. They may be misguided, perhaps a...
November 1st, 2010 | General, Travel, United States
When the clock alarmed me at 5 in the morning, all I knew was exhaustion and the weight of darkness. I turned on the light and groped for the phone and the instruction sheet. They said I should call to confirm after 4:30 and to be sure to be there at 7. The voice on...
October 31st, 2010 | General
Hallowe’en, as I remember it anyway, was all about the good stuff: popcorn balls, caramel apples, enormous chocolate-chip cookies, and all of it homemade. There was a lot of candy, of course. Too many Dum Dum lollipops and too few Tootsie Pops, an overabundance of...
October 1st, 2010 | General, Travel
How can something as large as a train station be so invisible? We confirmed the location of the Burnham train station and left with what we felt was plenty of time to get there, buy tickets and await the train. Problem was the station was nowhere to be found. We...
September 28th, 2010 | General, Travel
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...
