Suprise Me

We visited the library at least once a week. I especially loved the Montclair (Oakland CA) branch which is contained in the cutest little house, in a lovely tree lined street. Read More

I had hair; my grandfather didn't. So it was only fair to let him wear the mortarboard. Read More

Getting Woke My folks, and my uncles and aunts were always politically active and die-hard liberals ,  and as children my sister and I and our cousins were used to hearing political rhetoric around the dinner table. Yet despite that red diaper babyhood,  I was seemingly apolitical and remained so well into my own adulthood… Read More

Good Girl As a kid I gave my parents little trouble and later showed only the usual rebellious teen spirit.  (They disapproved of guys I dated,  but that’s another story). And although I’ve stood on picket lines,  argued  before the Corps of Engineers against ecologically disastrous city projects,  marched for good causes,  volunteered for a few,… Read More

1963, the year I started college, was a rather schizophrenic time for women. There were glimmerings of feminism and social activism, but a lot of the old expectations for women lived side-by-side with these new ideas. Read More

No one had prepared me for a darkened classroom. Read More

Tales of the Scrabble Table Brought to You by the Letter Y  I love the game and that’s why the Scrabble gods watch over me. Last summer I was playing Scrabble with friends out on my deck.  After the game I folded the board and while I was sliding the tiles back into their little… Read More

Early childhood educators often find relief through the funny and endearing things their young charges do and say. Sometimes, you just have to laugh. Read More

Recycling is not really the best solution to resource conservation, re-using is even better.  Doing with less “stuff” is even better than re-using. Read More

"Well, then, chivalry is not such a good thing." Read More