11 Nov 2022

Recovery Is Everywhere

7

Are you pulling yourself together after the midterms? Doing some bouncing back from any disappointing results, from the onslaught of ads over recent weeks, from fatigue at the whole business? If you’re moving on past something that caused some edginess or worse– real distress, you’re not sorry to see it in the rear-view mirror. Recently, like a bird-watcher, I’ve been spotting examples of “recovery” all over the place. Each brings a fresh reminder that the same word can describe very … Read More
12 Oct 2022

This Time, I Went With Him

6

Is it possible to have a holiday do double duty — say, wholeheartedly embrace Indigenous People’s Day while not spurning absolutely everything related to Columbus Day; or perhaps ditching the Columbus (who never stepped foot in the US mainland) part and thinking of that second Monday in October as primarily Indigenous People’s Day, because it’s about time, but making some room for Italian Heritage Day; or maybe, with full enthusiasm for the new designation, looking elsewhere in the calendar for … Read More
17 Sep 2022

Salt Water, Fresh Water: Have It Both Ways

2

As if it happens every year, the season’s turning again. The whirring fans many of us had going to help us sleep at night have quieted, and we’re beginning to reach for — gasp — light jackets. We’ve had some rain, at least, and what a gift that has been. Over in the UK, too, the skies have opened up, not deterring the thousands of mourners who will brave most anything to pay tribute to their beloved Queen Elizabeth. Having … Read More
21 Aug 2022

One Canterbury Tale

4

We’ve been back from England a week, and I still feel like one of those contraptions — a computer screen, mostly — that shows a spinning wheel and a message saying, “Still processing.” What a lot there was to take in, on many levels. And I sense there won’t be a moment anytime soon when I pronounce the operation fully complete. Trying to integrate what I experienced with what I already know about life in general and my life in … Read More
29 Jul 2022

It Happens Every 10 Years, or Maybe 14

0

When you get an invitation of any kind, you need to decide whether to accept or to decline. Sometimes these decisions are easy — “Yipppee!” or “No way I’m going to that!” — and sometimes they’re not. Every summer stretching back maybe fifteen years, I get an envelope with the same woman’s handwriting and address in the upper left corner. She even managed to find me after our move to New Hampshire, nine years ago. Inside is a one-page invitation … Read More
7 Jul 2022

Empty Nesting: A Great Time for Exploring

5

The Fourth of July might also be known as Independence Day, but I’d call the one we just had something closer to Togetherness Day. Awwww, this is going to be sweet and maybe even a little schmaltzy, you’re predicting. And I’m not even getting into KA-BOOM fireworks. (Although I can’t resist saying, on that topic, that we noticed an odd difference this year with our 13-year-old dog not being nearly as anxious with the noise as he has previously been. … Read More
19 Jun 2022

Watching Dad Feed the Horses

8

I’m giving this one over to Father’s Day. Most likely, you’ve been doing some reflecting on your dad today, too. As my husband Rob — father of our three kids and also sometimes called “Father” by members of his flock — drives back home after marrying a couple yesterday in the Adirondacks, I’m thinking about all that he does to support this family. I’m also considering the slim sliver of time, over 30 years ago, that he had to get … Read More
27 May 2022

Joy and Devastation

14

Those of us who celebrated high school graduations and college and university commencements across the land last weekend never expected that we’d be doing so within the bookends of two horrific national tragedies. Our loved ones who earned diplomas, walked across stages, were cheered by family and friends, felt the culmination of their efforts on a single day — they shone brightly. Joy was palpable in the soft breezes that danced across campuses, the robes that fluttered, the speeches that … Read More
28 Apr 2022

Comings and Goings

3

Even after 30 plus years of marriage, this is the kind of exchange that still happens in our household. I ask, “Is Easter over now or does it continue in some way?” (I had a feeling, partly based on the way that Christmas also keeps going, but somehow it wasn’t firmed lodged in my mind). Rob replies, no doubt summoning his patience, “We’re still in Easter, all the way until Pentecost.” I refrain from asking exactly when Pentecost is, believing … Read More
11 Apr 2022

Holy Week, and High School Too

1

When two people live together as spouses or partners, they converge in certain ways and at certain times. Over the past couple of years, the line on this graph — how much actual time spent in the same domicile — went way, way up. When it comes to managing their respective occupations, however, unless they happen to work together, they may often feel that they’re moving along side-by-side, but separately, like a pair of railroad tracks. Not completely like railroad … Read More

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 28