James and the Giant Fall

November 16th, 2009 | Genealogy, General, Society at Large

The subject line of Emily’s e-mail was “James and the Giant Fall.” The funny headline all but trumpeted the reassuring news contained in the note. James is the sixth of my mother’s grandchildren. A gangly, bearded boy, he is a lover of wild places and high elevations....

Endings

September 25th, 2009 | Gardens and Gardening, Genealogy, General

There are two snowy clematis on the fence that guards the edge of the retaining wall, twin blossoms turning their faces toward the sky. They caught me somewhat by surprise. In the spring I was thrilled by their glossy leaves and cluster of blooms waving at me. It...

Happy Anniversary

September 6th, 2009 | Friends, Genealogy, General

Thank heavens for the television this morning. We had eaten breakfast and were still without newspapers at 8:00, midmorning by our standards. Once I completed the border on an afghan I started crocheting in 2007, I was left with nothing to do at all. On “Weekend...

Scary Ellen Buys a Car

July 21st, 2009 | Genealogy, General, Shopping, Women

Saturday night my Dear One and I were up to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to celebrate brother T’s 50th birthday. It was a wonderful party and about a hundred people representing every phase of his life were there to offer felicitations. I also found it an unnerving...
The Gardener’s Gene

The Gardener’s Gene

June 13th, 2009 | Gardens and Gardening, Genealogy, General

Is there a time-release bit of gardener’s DNA in the human genome that wakes up when one reaches “a certain age”? As a child and under duress from my mother I planted zinnia seeds. I didn’t particularly care for the flowers–I think Ma had...