Despite what my daughter says about the weekend, I see Sunday as the first day of the week. Today kicks off the beginning of a new week. Tomorrow night is the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Last week for many was the beginning of the new school year. Also, last week’s devastating destruction caused by… Continue reading
Sometimes, it’s okay.
Sometimes, it’s okay to sit still and contemplate, to think about life and meaning and whether to eat dinner at all. Sometimes, it’s okay to say no, to one more or a dozen more mundane tasks and the nagging inner voice that says, “do more, do more, do more.” Sometimes, it’s okay to be tired,… Continue reading
Sleeping around
Somewhere back in my early childhood before I started going to school, I had a habit that distressed my mother. Struck by the realization my parents were staying up way past my bedtime I made it my mission to find out why. It took a few nights, but I finally outlasted them. I lay awake… Continue reading
Loved ones…Maggie and me
My dear friend Maggie is currently visiting us. We are blessed to have her here for three weeks, there is one week left. Our friendship goes back over 30 years. We met as adult married women when we both started our new jobs at the Clerk’s Office in Tampa. We didn’t grow up together. We… Continue reading
Highly sensitive
To get up every day to ‘what wonder my way comes’ is gratifying. We haven’t moved to a different home, but all the same I feel a shift occurring around us. I’ve mentioned it before, the KonMari Method, the method conceived by Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant; that my daughter and I are employing to… Continue reading
I can hear you
Photo credit: Rachel Stein Yesterday marked a year since our little tabby cat died. We home-hospice(d) her for three weeks. It was rough to watch her decline and at the same time we were grateful to be able to let her die and leave us at her own pace. July 2020 overall was a rough… Continue reading
A Lamp Named Sadie
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
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
Books by Rachel Stein
Rachel Stein’s debut book, segue: FACING LOSS AND LIFE WITH LOVE chronicles her personal segue through some difficult and defining moments. Through her raw and vulnerable writing style she encourages her readers to take heart while facing their own losses and lives.Her readers come away comforted by the reassurance life is best faced with love.While… 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