Family Relationships   Ah, family. The people you share a significant portion of your DNA with, which for some translates to a deep and abiding love. For others, well, it’s like being stuck in a crowded elevator with a toddler who keeps smearing mashed banana on the emergency stop button. Me? My family? I fall… Read More

Sometimes a guy just needs his big sister (although he doesn't always want her to know it!) Read More

What Did You Do in the War,  Daddy? When our son was young he asked us if we were at Woodstock.  We had to say No,  but we didn’t have an answer when he asked,  Why not? He was disappointed and I’m sure we went down a notch or two in his esteem. He never… Read More

We asked what they needed most and they requested a transportation vehicle. Not an ambulance—that would be too much of a target. Read More

World War II murders and casualties overshadowed my childhood. Read More

  Hey there you fellow homo sapiens! Gather ’round, lemme tell ya a joke. It’s a real knee-slapper, been around for millennia. It goes a little somethin’ like this: a bunch of ya all get riled up, paint yer faces funny colors, grab some pointy sticks, and see who can spill the most blood and… Read More

I’m not a second guesser. Once I decide to buy or do something, I don’t perseverate about my decision. Read More

Joy and Addis  I’ve written about the memorable time in the early 1970s  when my husband Danny was working in London for a year and we lived in a rented flat in Chelsea off the Kings Road.   (See Laundry Day in London,  Kinky Boots,  Valentine’s Day in Foggytown ,  and Intro to Cookery) And I’ve… Read More

  My Own Worst Critic Let’s be honest, folks. We all have that voice in our heads. The one that whispers (or sometimes shrieks) insecurities like a malfunctioning smoke detector. This eternal internal tormentor, for lack of a better term, is what I like to call my own personal Jiminy Cricket. Imagine, if you will,… Read More

Because I’m an animist (one of the reasons I was so enthusiastic about Dana’s Shinto post) I don’t collect “stuff” so much as welcome new pals to the posse. Julie and I are minimalists with penchants for toys, books, and outsider art.  (And ground hogs.  Our resident groundhog, the latest of many generations, just passed… Read More