Suprise Me

That really impressed the neighbors! Read More

No matter where I am–at home or abroad–people ask me for directions. I don’t know why. Most of the time I can answer correctly, but I’m sure I’ve made some mistakes. Years ago, I brought this up at lunch with my friends and colleagues at the high school where I worked. One of the (younger)… Read More

Our town was a very very very fine town Read More

This was in late 1972, when recycling of glass had just become a thing, and we wanted to do our part. Read More

Really? Says every cultured person I know. You watch THAT show…or, you STILL watch that show? Short answer: yes. My father-in-law (who has been gone more than 20 years) introduced us at the end of the first season. Kelly and Justin. Kelly Clarkson won. She did OK for herself. As have Jennifer Hudson and Carrie… Read More

Mother and Child,  Mary Cassatt 1897 Going Back to Work 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… Read More

...it's all very rushed and intense and exciting there by the curb, as if each of us is exactly who the other is meant to meet at that moment in time. Read More

Dan and I have always had specific design ideas. They have changed as our tastes have grown more sophisticated and our financial means also grown and changed through the years, but we always knew what we liked. We married young and started our life together with very limited resources. My father gave us some money… Read More

The little girl stared and asked, "Daddy, what are those?" "These are records," he replied, "they play music." Read More

I was raised in Michigan during the era when Walter Reuther advocated for workers’ rights, universal health care, public education, and affordable housing and the UAW was seen as a sacred, progressive union in my home. He and George Meany cofounded the AFL-CIO in 1955. Unions brought prosperity to middle class families, many of whom… Read More