When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 our Manhattan apartment building was severely affected,  we were evacuated and moved to a Marriott hotel three blocks away for a few days .  (See Cooking with Gas) A few years earlier we also had to vacate when during a renovation the construction dust forced us out.  (See  (The Lion,… Read More

I pride myself on being organized,  in fact organizing became my second career!   (See Second Career) And altho I would tell my organizing clients to keep important documents in a desk or file cabinet,  for some reason I always kept my own passport in my dresser drawer. Several years ago our friend Ken told us… Read More

My mother never made much of a fuss over mealtimes,   nor did she take much pride in her own cooking – although I never remember a meal at her table that wasn’t delicious.  (See My Game Mother,   Still Life) She was a high school art teacher,   and came home every afternoon,  tied an apron… Read More

 Although I grew up in a house,  most of my married life I’ve been a Manhattanite and an apartment dweller.  (See (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe,  Cooking with Gas) However over the years we did spend many wonderful summers in houses at the beach.   (See The Great Hampton Babysitter Heist,  Skinny Dipping,  Menemsha… Read More

For several summers in our early,  married-without-children years we rented a beach house with our good friends J and K.   After a few years our friends – serious fishermen by then –  opted for the mountains instead and bought a house near a trout stream.  (See Catskill Weekend) We rented that wonderful beach house by… Read More

I was working as a high school librarian,   with an easy 20 minute highway commute,  when I discovered  I was pregnant.   I happily applied for a maternity leave and told my principal I’d be leaving a week or two before my mid-March due date.   And by that time – with my big… Read More

Like all red-bloodied,  pubescent American girls of the 50s I certainly did my share of dating. In junior high school we started to pair off and with little information and probably more mis-information about the birds and the bees,  we experimented.   (My cowardly parents,   rather than having that embarrassing conversation,   gave me… Read More

Although merry-go-rounds or carousels are usually found at state and county fairs,  the oldest platform carousel in the country,  Flying Horses,  is actually a permanent fixture in the charming town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard where we’ve spent many idyllic summer vacations.  (See Menemsha Sunset) When our son was young we often took him to… Read More

HIM,  upstairs:  “Do we have Alka Seltzer Plus?” ME,   downstairs:  “Yes,  it’s in the cabinet.” HIM,  upstairs:  “Where? ME,  downstairs:  “It’s in the cabinet in the white bin.” HIM,  upstairs:  “Where?” ME,  downstairs:  “It’s in the cabinet in the white bin on the left side.” HIM, from upstairs:   “Where?” ME,  downstairs getting hot… Read More

My parents’ first house was on a shady street in the Bronx bought after WW II on the GI bill.  My dad set up his medical practice on the first floor and we lived on the floor above.  (See also Fluffy, or How I Got My Dog,   Magnolia, The Story of a Garden,  and Parkchester, Celebrate… Read More