So I found my word. I can’t get around it, and who am I to argue? Fifth Annual Word of the Year. Deep Breath. Rime Ice, a lá the earliest days of 2021 I’ve been thinking about this since well-before 2021 hit, and thinking about what these words mean. Every year I think I have... Continue Reading →
The passage of time (and the Christmas Letter)
I meandered out into the woods this afternoon, a place I've spent shamefully little time this winter. I knew today, almost as soon as I got up, that I would end up out there, and I'm glad that I did. It was a short visit, uneventful, mostly me weaving in and out of trees in... Continue Reading →
Here we are
I watched The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society again recently. Before the Christmas movie marathons began.* It is still one of my favorite books, Guernesy. And the Netflix movie does it considerable justice, which is more than I can say of most books turned movies. I think I've seen the flick three or... Continue Reading →
No Good Deed…
Gunflint Trail, USA When your 88-year-old friend and his youthful 81-year-old wife reach out to tell you that they've been cooped up in their tiny apartment for seven months, and furthermore there is a decent amount of failing health to contend with and worry over, and that really, all said friend would like is one... Continue Reading →
Catching up, and A Plea
Wow. So I totally left ya' hangin' there. With the COVID. Sincere apologies. We are still alive. Not to worry. Test #2 was still negativo, and not a one of us got sick. Three cheers for masking and distancing and wiping down All The Things! Even if we weren't doing it perfectly, we survived hours... Continue Reading →
R&R at The Four Seasons
121. Is that too many pictures of one vacation for one blog post? 121? I mean, a full 10 of them are of lichen, and there are at least two snowmen in there. I think it's good, right? Commence photojournalism spree... First of all, ya'll can rest your minds from working out that kid rotation... Continue Reading →
Peace
Dropped my phone in the toilet this morning. I’d have taken a picture, but this seemed a grossly ineffective use of my time. Also, a logistical conundrum considering the camera itself was in the toilet. This pretty much ties up my week. An appropriately shaded ribbon on the package of the past handful of days.... Continue Reading →
Inflammation of the phalanges
We'll call it an incident. I suppose we could call it aging. Or stupidity. But we're going to go with an incident. It started with that damned cardboard. I've always known my fingers were bulls-eyes for arthritis. My childhood is pocked with memories of my mom's engorged knuckles and all the digital calisthenics employed to... Continue Reading →
Even in the Dark
Snow shadows from the Hoffman Hills Tower yesterday March 24Even in the DarkTo be broken is no reasonto see all things as brokenSeldom seen, growing along the ocean floor, the white plumed anemone is a watery blossom. It is white lace opening under tons of black, opening as if bathed in the sun, while so... Continue Reading →
Judgments, mine and yours
I vacuumed under my couch cushions this morning. Da clean couch You see, last weekend one of the adult kiddos was here with a visiting friend. Said friend spent most of the weekend on my couch, relaxing from her hellish semester at college, staring blankly at her phone, and digging her stockinged feet in between... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son
Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott Just as she chronicled the first year with her son, Sam, Anne Lamott this time lays bare her first year with Sam's son, Jax. And of course she does it beautifully. Lamott is Lamott, and the artistry with which she washes her familial story will keep me coming back... Continue Reading →
Dear Children of Mine (aka Mother’s Day 2019)
This post has been kind of falling together for a few days. How fitting that it's ready to hit the interwebs on Mother's Day... Anne Lamott wrote this letter to her Grandson Jax at 4 months old: "Dear Jax: Yesterday was your first Thanksgiving, and it is time for me to impart to you the secret... Continue Reading →