Shelf List I was a librarian for almost 40 years,  most of those spent working in school libraries with several summers in a small public library as well.    (See The Diary of a Young Girl,  Magazines for the Principal,  My Snowy Year in Buffalo and Rainy Night on the Highway) I loved my time in… Read More

Getting Lost I must admit I have a poor sense of direction,  but luckily my husband has a very good one,  and he seldom gets us lost.   And on the rare occasions we do get lost,  he’s willing to stop and ask directions,  unlike my rather stubborn father.  (See 17 Gas Stations) But I… Read More

Laughing Gas and the Chestnut Tree When I was growing up we lived on a shady street in the Bronx.   Several doctors and dentists had offices on our block and my dad was one of them.   He was a GP who practiced on the ground floor of our three-story house and we lived… Read More

Around the World in 80 Days I seldom saw my parents feuding,  but there was one thorny issue they couldn’t agree on.  When my mother retired after years of teaching she wanted my father to retire as well so that like many of their retired friends they could travel freely. They had traveled a bit… Read More

Election Day Blues I don’t remember the first time I voted,  and altho a knee-jerk liberal,  I’ve never been particularly savvy about politics.  But my mother was very much so,  and I’m sure on my first Election Day  I took her advice as I usually have ever since   – “Vote Democratic;  and if candidates… Read More

Intro to Cookery We were still newlyweds when my husband’s company offered him the chance to work in their London office for a year and of course we took it!   (See Valentine’s Day in Foggytown,  Kinky Boots,  and Laundry Day in London) I took a leave of absence from my job,  we sublet our apartment,  and… Read More

Shuffling Off to Buffalo Back in my grad school days I was studying in New York and my boyfriend was upstate in Buffalo,  a good eight hour train ride away. Many weekends I’d catch the train at the Harlem 125th Street station to make the trip.  Then one Friday afternoon I was waiting on the… Read More

Lost Luggage When our son Noah was 4 or 5 we took him on his first plane trip to Aruba for a week’s vacation. I bought a set of matching suitcases on wheels in three sizes –  the big one for my husband,  the middle one for me,  and the small one for Noah,  and once… Read More

The Naked Emperor As a young kid I’m sure when The Emperor’s New Clothes was read to me I was delighted by a boy much wiser than the grownups,  and unafraid to laugh at the foolish and naked ruler. And later when I was older and read the tale myself I surely appreciated the clever satire,  the… Read More

Sofa-Bed Our first living room couch was really a sofa-bed –  we bought it thinking when it wasn’t being a living room couch it could double as a guest bed – and it did,  legions of our friends have slept on it over the years with no complaints. And as I remember it was originally… Read More