Suprise Me

Second Career – Home Organizer! I take little pride in my culinary skills,  am not a fashionista,  and may not be up on pop culture,  or as knowledgeable as I should be on world events,  but one thing I am is organized!  Yet over the years little did I know that after retirement organizing would… 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

By Walter Nicklin I had worked most of the summer on the horse farms that defined that part of rural Virginia where I grew up — making hay in June and painting fences in July.  Finally, in August, I had saved enough to buy the sportscar of my dreams, a used MGA.  The year was… Read More

Reading witn Hattie,  Baking with Julia When our son Noah was young he watched all the usual children’s TV shows of the time.  His favorites, as I remember were Sesame Street,  Mr Rogers, and The Electric Company. Watching The Electric Company,  Noah delighted in Morgan Freeman’s character Easy Reader, and Hattie Winston’s character Valerie the… Read More

Shakespeare usually has something brilliant to say on a topic like this one: “What’s in a name?/A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Like my cousin Mimi (actually Mary Elizabeth), I was named Elizabeth Ann for our paternal grandmother, who was “Elizabeth Prensky Sarason” (so her headstone says), but I never heard… Read More

It was also the night I committed the most anti-feminist act ever. I came with Paula but left with Fred. Read More

The library was on the basement floor of that old 1934 two-story dark brick building in a small windowless room, maybe 12 by 15 feet.  Its walls were lined with bookshelves, neatly organized into the Dewey decimal system Read More

The sauce was a perfect blend of mayonnaise, summer vacation, Tom Terrific, rainbows, and ambrosia. Read More

Noah R,  Noah G,  and Noah L Three Noahs As you may know it’s traditional in Jewish families to give children the names or initials of loved-ones who have died.   And so when we were expectant parents we planned to name the baby after my late father-in-law whose name was Naftali. My woman’s intuition… Read More

Traveling Light For years before leaving on a trip I’d make a list of what to pack:  6 prs underwear,  6 prs stockings/sox,  nightgown and bathrobe,  2 prs shoes,   1 skirt,  1 pr pants,  at least 4 tops,  1 sweater,  rainwear,  jacket or coat,  umbrella,  toiletries,  camera and film,  passport,   plane tix,  … Read More