Playing with Fire As a child I spent summers with my family at my grandmother’s small Catskills hotel.  (See My Game Mother,  My Heart Remembers My Grandmother’s Hotel , The Troubadour,  Hotel Kittens, The Cat and the Forshpeiz and Our Special Guests) One summer a family with a son about my age –  we both must have… Read More

When I think of rainy days, and the melancholy effect they can have on us, I think of an episode of the classic TV sitcom, Barney Miller, a wry, understated  comedy series that ran from 1975-82.  The episode was called simply, “Rain,” and you can watch it at that link. For the uninitiated, who missed one… Read More

From my files: A Japanese ritual: emotion, laughter, love and union. Read More

Martha’s Vineyard is predominantly a resort community, particularly in the summer. We go to the beach, exercise in some form, ride bikes, hike the beautiful trails, socialize with friends. So when it rains, everyone comes into town, looking to shop, go to the movies or find something else to do. We happen to live right… Read More

Namekagon river, Wisconsin What could be more glorious than a weekend on the Namakagon River in Wisconsin? A group of female nurses, myself, my 12-year-old daughter and her friend, Emily,  drove under a bright sky across rich agricultural land through the St. Croix river’s national forest finally stopping at a roadside rest over the river.… Read More

Monsoons are more than just rainy days.  They are the wet season, the dry season’s counterpoint.  The rains are intense downpours, not drizzly affairs, and they sweep in ferociously. They are the annual water renewal that makes life possible.  Of course, that is changing along with the rest of the climate, but still. The small… Read More

Inks and Derek: Art and the Cricket Scores In the early 1970s my husband Danny accepted a stint in his company’s London office.   (See Laundry Day in London,   Kinky Boots,  Valentine’s Day in Foggytown,  Intro to Cookery,  and Munro) He’d be working for a guy named Derek whom I hadn’t met,  but Danny assured me I’d… Read More

They say man plans and God laughs. On the big day, it rained steadily from sun up to midnight. Read More

  Who was the cat? Just a bad book baddie?  Or was he something more. Who are these false crusaders who pull the books from our shelves, who interpret their bogus meanings without credibility or reserve.   In a day of dismal rain with a fish who only swims sat our two despondent children as… Read More

Wishing for Rain on the Vineyard We’ve spend many lovely summer vacations on Martha’s Vineyard and I’ve written about some of my memories of that idyllic island.  (See Menemsha Sunset,  and Carousel) Of course we reveled in sunny days when it was glorious to be at the beach or on the water,  and just as delightful… Read More