I was with a woman in a modern little home. She was confused, running around the house naked and showing me how she had her navel pierced 20 or 30 times in a dark ring of multiple hoops. I felt sad for her.
I looked out the window, and saw two funnel clouds approaching. They were […]
I admit it. I like to put my children to work. Sometimes when we are out in the yard digging weeds together—something we have been doing a lot lately—they want to pretend that I am the “head pilgrim” and they are my forced laborers. But I think they enjoy it. I “forced” them to wash […]
My son was swinging in the backyard when he ponderously asked me, “If the planet is round, why does it look flat?”
I loved that he asked me this question. It gave me a chance to point out how miniscule we are in the universe. We think we matter so much, we feel huge on our […]
This is the monitor my husband gets to wear for 48 hours. I had been telling friends and relatives he has to wear it for two weeks. That is incorrect. I was duly corrected yesterday after I reacted with shock to the news that he is not supposed to shower while he is hooked up […]
I’ve been reflecting a bit lately on whether or not parenting is hard. People don’t really ask me about it anymore like they used to… well, to be honest, it’s not as though people used to ask me whether it was hard, or what it was like at all. They used to just assume that […]
Last night, just after we left my parents’ house after a late dinner, my stepfather laid on the couch and said to my mother, “I need to talk with you.” She was in the midst of a phone conversation with other family members but was happy to oblige my stepdad and interrupt it. Hanging up […]
I was driving on a highway in nasty-looking weather. Clouds were darkening, thickening. I knew it was important to hurry. In my rear-view mirror, I spotted twin funnel clouds racing above and along with the traffic behind me, trying to set down, pondering their next victim at a rapid, crazy pace.
In the lead, I was […]
There’s nothing like an early-morning trek to Mom’s house for a cheerful Sunday of vegetable-ricotta omelets, homemade turkey sausages, strawberry-pineapple salad, buttery herbed bread, homemade coffeecake, and some dark French roast coffee. Unlike in years past, Mom is now only an hour away by car, and considering everything we’ve been through to work on improving […]
I was in a wide, gently sloping and masterfully sculpted valley of carpeted green. Wildflowers of every variety, every color, so incredibly beautiful, coated the landscape around me. There was a gentle, warm breeze. Sunlight came and went with thick, comforting, cottony-grey clouds hanging low in the sky.
Other people were around, taking it easy, camping […]
Several children descended upon my house and yard yesterday for another round of Wednesday afternoon chaos, irrational exuberance, character education, and elementary-school- age cultural exchange. With no particular plan in place for outdoor games, we improvised. I drew a lot of seemingly random lines and circles on the driveway with chalk and got out my […]