In 1981, my husband Vic organized a “friendly” competition. The Ball Diamond Rd. team of close friends who lived a few miles away went vine to pumpkin against our team, the Picnic Area Road team. There were no set rules and no history to lean on, although later there would be disagreement about unspoken assumptions. […]
“For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke June 3, 2018 marks a decade since my husband died. It’s been 52 years since we met […]
In Honor of Our 50th Anniversary May 18, 1968 – 2018 By the time I was twenty, I was used to my mother living in a different country every year, knew what classes to take at Cornell, and was ready to apply to Berkley for graduate school. I also knew I would live in a […]
“Do you ask her how she is?” my therapist asked. “Not unless she acts out,” I said. “I try to ignore her depression.” “How old is she?” We’ve talked about this many times, but she asks anyway. “She’s about 14.” Shame rises from my belly and floods my face. Am I talking about this again? […]
A few nights after arriving in Arizona to visit Dotty and her family, I had a dream: I walk up a steep hill with Dotty. I’m looking for a safe place to release a large owl. Dotty opens battered wooden barn doors and enters the dark. “What’s it like in there,” I call through the […]
“Only from such a place of loss and longing can we begin remembering ourselves home.” ~Toko-pa Turner, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Back Home, p. 18 After two weeks of Arizona sunshine, loving friends, gourmet meals, and brilliant stars, I looked forward to […]
Don’t worry when the logger leaves after one day. Be glad he cares about the forest. Be glad he’s upset when his equipment makes ruts in the unfrozen earth beneath the snow. Let the Finger Lakes Land Trust conservation forester and this careful logger and neighbor who cuts only sick or broken trees handle this. […]