For the love of a letter, and words from the heart.
Why I need to take up drinking
Two nights ago I mixed my first martini, ever. It was cool. It was hot. It was dirty. One slosh of vermouth. Three similar sloshes of vodka. A little olive brine, straight from the jar. Crushed ice (shaken and stirred?). Okay. Did I ever say I mixed martinis like a seasoned bartender? Trust me. It […]
Good news and bad news
There’s good news and bad news. Oh, I won’t even begin to discuss the state of the BP oil spill, our lagging economy, not to mention my pitiful personal life. But there’s still a cornucopia of good news – offset of course, by weird news (at the very least), and yes, bad news. But may […]
Flashbacks, futures
The hotel room The popcorn ceiling, valance curtains, brightly colored abstract images in gilt frames hanging over each double bed. Six hangers on a pole by the door, with its emergency exit and checkout instructions posted beneath a tiny keyhole. There is olive carpeting with a small pattern, striped wallpaper in the beige bathroom with […]
Plane snoozing, peanut scooping, eye rolling (Why I love my kid)
Travel time This is my kid. Yes, he’s sleeping. Head down, on an airplane. How can he do that?? Dining out This was last night’s dinner. Out on the town. Shouldn’t everyone go gourmet when they travel? Appetizers This delightful appetizer was part of the ambiance last evening, with that fabulous burger and fries. “What […]
The Best Laid Plans
Our best laid plans? Life has other ideas.
Can We Ever Truly Know Our Parents?
It’s Father’s Day. The first thing I did when I woke was go straight to the small framed Polaroid of my dad and me, taken on the last day I saw him. Father’s Day, nearly 25 years ago. There are a handful of other images tucked away. But that one, of the two of us, […]
How to recognize value
It’s been a lovely afternoon of wandering the flea market, enjoying the crowd and the diversity of antiques and vintage curiosities. You pick up a small silver fork and wonder why its tongs curve outward so delicately. You turn it over, note a hallmark of some sort, feel its weight in your hand, then glance […]
Moment of silence
Last evening I wrote in the quiet. I watched a movie on cable. I read, then wrote some more. And settled slowly into a rhythm of 24 hours of silence. Strangely peaceful silence. Everything in me unwinds, finally, after a week of being on my own, in this observation of an hour of silence, and […]
Home Alone
It is a long weekend in the States. A holiday. Memorial Day. For some, it is a day spent in realization of this occasion. But for most, this weekend announces the arrival of summer vacations, of travel, of family time. Carefree or carefully constructed schedules. A break in routine. A break, of any sort. And […]