April 30th, 2013 | Gardens and Gardening, General, the world and Mother Nature
Genuine April weather it was, air soft from yesterday’s rain and sunlight occasionally reaching through the clouds. I was at my desk, focused on the needs of students desperate to improve grades who were finally willing to invite my tutelage on the last paper of the...
April 18th, 2013 | Education, Friends, General, Memory, Time Passes, Women
I read the new history of my school, Emma Willard School in Troy, New York and paid particular attention to the summary of my own era within those “grey walls protecting.” I am struck by the paradox of the book’s enveloping familiarity and its utter strangeness. Was...
March 24th, 2013 | General, the world and Mother Nature, Travel, United States
My lips are chapped, the top of my shoulders faintly pink despite sensible shirts and the omnipresent wide-brimmed hat, and my mind is filled with constant contrast of an arid, spiny and primeval beauty locked in a death struggle with ugly human sprawl. Saguaro cacti,...
March 12th, 2013 | Education, General, visual arts
I think the studio teacher said something like “What is that supposed to be?” during a painting critique. The comment is a variation on an old, old theme in since “Modernism” earned its capital M: “whatever you are doing, it clearly doesn’t meet the standards of ‘good...
January 14th, 2013 | General, Pets, the world and Mother Nature, Travel, United States
Manatees hang in the water at the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) in Apollo Beach, seemingly born by the currents of oblivion as little fish nibble at their skin and sharks school protectively around them. At a distance they are nothing but brown bumps, little islands....
January 12th, 2013 | Friends, General, Popular Culture, Travel, United States, visual arts
Our rental for this Florida vacation is a Kia Optima, a perfectly nice car, but not what I planned on. Dollar was offering a deal where I might get either a compact or an upgrade. Turns out that the upgrade was a Grand Caravan and there were no compacts. Backed into...
January 11th, 2013 | Friends, General, Memory, Travel, United States, visual arts
We updated the the Garmin Nuvi and lost Serena. Serena’s charming English diction tended to break down with the letter “r” but that was kinda fun, you know, the “what on earth did she just say?” giggle. With the update, the voice changed to something of slightly...
December 29th, 2012 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Holidays, Memory
I got so excited I just had to post of Facebook: “It’s snowing!!!! It’s Christmas Eve and it’s snowing!!!!!” Yes, way too many exclamation marks. I remember one year quite some time ago, I think probably 1965 or 1966. We were at the grandparents’ home, 161 Main Street...
December 20th, 2012 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Holidays, Memory, Shopping, Time Passes
What, no peppermint stick ice cream? Is there something wrong with this place stuck just under the Mason-Dixon Line? My Dear One has been searching high and low and with no luck. There is none at Klein’s/Shop-Rite, none at Mars, none at Weis or Wal-Mart. We even tried...
December 12th, 2012 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, Friends, Genealogy, General, Holidays, Memory, Time Passes, Travel
In the waning months of my “Year of Present Living” we finally got to Lithuania. Both of us acquired a whole bunch of new cousins in 2012, as well. That’s what happens when you shake those family trees with vigor and a little manic enthusiasm. Our dinner table,...
