Where Sadness and Beauty can Coexist

If you have some unscheduled time in the near future, consider a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It is for sure one of the nation’s great museums. On a recent Sunday, Brian and I ventured forth to see three important current exhibits. I will warn you that taking on three major …

Kathy

She was just the roommate I needed. So determined was I to leave it all behind – my childhood, my rural home state, my teenage resentment with the conventionality of my high school and my narrow life– that I had applied and been accepted into a college I knew nothing about but for an offhand …

Lo grows

It is with mixed emotions that I announce Lo is leaving infancy behind to become a toddler. She is teetering, and I mean that literally, on the edge of walking. ​ ​ She has sprouted some molars and and has expanded her menu to include most things. She drinks from a cup. She can't talk …

Happy Trails

You know I am trying to walk more. B and I love a good nature walk but last year, on account of a stress fracture on account of my brief, but successful (ran 5K without stopping), running career, I was unable to take one single hike. Lucky for me, and all other locals, Concord has …

Life Goals

After I retired, I started making some annual goals. (Before I retired, I focused on getting through the work week.) These goals are in broad categories (health, financial, personal). Don't worry, I am not going to itemize these. Not only do I not want the accountability that comes from “going public,” I also like that …

Happy Birthday, Lo

Lo and Behold: Lo is a year old. It seems fitting on this occasion to enumerate a few of her many fine qualities. Thus, here are the the Top Ten Things About Lo at One Year. 1. As from birth, she remains a style icon. She remains comfortable in any style but her current vibe …

Housekeeping

Cleaning my mother's house. Cleaning my own house. This week, these parallel activities have me musing about the nature of housework.  I am a good-enough-for-government-work cleaner. The basics get done, and a little less frequently, I delve deeper, noticing and eradicating the toothpaste splash on the bathroom wall and the cobwebs clinging to the bulls-eye …

Girls’ Night

The six of us are former coworkers from the IT department of New Hampshire Savings Bank and our friendship and periodic get togethers have endured for over 30 years. We have seen divorces, marriages, births, deaths and grandchildren. A number of pets have come and gone. We have moved to different houses and one to …

Tiny Miracles

New Englanders know that Spring time is the most ethereal of seasons, arriving overnight with summertime temperatures, a diminishing pile of dirty snow, a long list of chores- indoors and out, and that which springs eternal. The hopeful things can be small and you need to pay attention. Visiting my mother yesterday, it was hard …

Collectibles

What do you collect? I didn't really have any childhood obsessions (minus the paper dolls) and as an adult have spent a regrettable amount on shoes and dresses but I would hardly call the rats nest in my closet a “collection.” My true collectible has emerged in later years: condiments. Or more accurately, unusual ingredients. …