The Silver Bell

I had not thought I would watch the remembrances. I remember the horror too well to think that reliving it over and over again will do anything to blur the vision, to dull the ache. Yet I did. I sat on the couch with newspapers and coffee, watching as the clock ticked...

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...

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...

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...

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...