November 28th, 2020 | General, Holidays, Politics
It is Thanksgiving and it is meet that I should count my blessings. Good Things and Silver Linings Despite the explosive rates of COVID infections, the disease has not breached our defenses. Nor has my Tattooed Boy fallen victim despite his return to his workplace. An...
October 13th, 2020 | Family, General, Holidays, Home Improvements, Politics, Time Passes
The flagstone patio at Nannie’s and Pop’s home in Hingham underlay the most wonderful wrought-iron furniture. The wheeled back legs of the chaises-longues allowed us to shift these monstrously heavy things relatively easily. Thick cushions in a floral fabric provided...
December 5th, 2018 | Canada, Europe, Family, Friends, Genealogy, General, Holidays, Memory, Travel
We flew off to Montreal in October for some poutine, some art museum and a ride on the Grande Roue Ferris wheel, and came back to strange goings-on in the climate controls of the car. The Scion’s fan hadn’t been working well, clacking on low, squawking on high. Then...
April 7th, 2018 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Holidays, Shopping
What is it with making ordinary treats seasonal? I already went cuckoo when I nearly couldn’t find peppermint stick ice cream for my Christmas dinner menu—and I don’t see why the flavor should be available only from late November to late December. When I was a child...
December 13th, 2016 | Architecture and Design, Europe, Family, Friends, General, Holidays, Matters of the Spirit, Memory, Politics, Travel, United States
Dearest all, I made the pilgrimage on my own, from our moorage on the Danube in Passau, Germany, up the Wallfahrtsstiege, the 321 steps to the Mariahilf. I counted off the Stations of the Cross and contemplated the gifts people had left, pleas for help and...
December 29th, 2015 | Genealogy, General, Holidays, Memory, Travel, United States, visual arts
Dearest all, whoever and wherever you may be: Newscasts from Paris in November would cut to Brussels and all we could think was, “We were just there in April.” We recognized streets, buildings, monuments. We thought about our little apartment on rue Potagère...