For the past four weeks, my daughter and I have been using the KonMari Method to clear the entire house. With over 50 hours in, we’ve made great strides. There’s something therapeutic about clearing one’s physical space, I am finding I have more than just material items in my life to clear away. There are… Continue reading
Category: LIFE AND SUCH
Requiem for a Wedding Day
Fifty years ago, on 27 July 1971, I married for the first time. It’s only natural that I am thinking about it and looking back. There won’t be any anniversary parties or dinners or a date night to mark the occasion.The marriage didn’t make it. It’s especially reasonable to reminisce now while my daughter and… Continue reading
Telephone
One of my younger brothers turned 60 a few weeks ago. Just like I received no birthday wishes from either of them last month, I didn’t send any to him. Not because of that though. Plenty of times I’ve picked up the telephone and reached out to him without any mind to reciprocity. Our relationship… Continue reading
Brief Encounter
She was waiting her turn at the convenience store checkout. She’s an elderly black woman, small in frame, holding on to her walker. She has a quiet and patient presence about her. She let go of her walker and took a few cautious steps to look more closely at items in the display case. She… Continue reading
Magnolia memories
The Southern Magnolia trees are blooming, even though New Jersey is the least southern place I’ve ever lived. They seem smaller here and with fewer blooms than I remember seeing in the South.I was in my early twenties the first time I remember ever seeing a Southern Magnolia tree. My husband was in the U.S.… Continue reading
My 2021 Cicada Safari
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait until I was 100 years old to experience a real, live Brood-X Cicada emergence. With minimal online research I was able to plan out our cicada safari. The charming town of Princeton, New Jersey is only about an hour’s drive away. Known for its university, colonial history, museums, and… Continue reading
Aunt Fanny and her chickens
Aunt Fanny loved her chickens. She was known to bring the new batches of chicks into the house first, instead of the chicken coop, if she thought the coop just wouldn’t be warm enough. The closest my mom ever let new batches stay in the house was on our enclosed porch. If that Spring was… Continue reading
Dental work and me
Happy to say after 10 weeks and 5 dental appointments, my mouth is back up to full smiling capacity.Years ago there was a book written by Erma Bombeck, titled “If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?” I always got a kick out of Ms. Bombeck’s humor and enjoyed… Continue reading
Brood-X Cicadas and me
My daughter spent the past week in Maryland and witnessed the cicada Brood-X emergence. Known to have loud mating calls up to 100 decibels, she said yes, they are loud! She compared the volume to that of the frogs’ mating calls we heard last month during our walk through the woods, that we at first… Continue reading