Travel in the Time of COVID, or How I Spent My Summer Vacation

After nearly three years of not getting on a plane and almost no travel, I went to Germany. When you put this into the context that I had some years where I was traveling at least 75% of each year, to not go anywhere was…..a luxury! A luxury I had some trepidation of giving up. […]

A Busy Spring

It has truly been a busy Spring season. No one thing has caused it to be busy, it is just the amalgamation of an assortment of activities. I wake up each day wondering, where have I spent my time? Why isn’t it possible to just lie in bed. The life of the leisure class. I […]

Confession and Diary of a Serial Killer

My neighbor, a retired judge, has labeled me a killer. He chastises me for waging war on the creeping charlie weeds overrunning everything (but they have a flower, he says), the dreaded honeysuckle bushes which proliferate like rabbits (but they grow so well he says), and the bittersweet vines which kill everything in their path […]

Winter Is Finally Turning to Spring

Often it feels like Winter hangs around longer than it should. This year, I know this was the case. I compared photos of our yard from one year ago. The plants are blooming 2-3 weeks later than last year. There was some snow left in the yard, from a large pile, just two weeks ago […]

Winter Gardening

Outside the wind is howling fiercely, the sun is shining brightly, the temperature is hovering around 19 degrees fahrenheit, with a wind chill factor of 5 degrees, snow lies everywhere on the ground, just as it has since our big snow storm on February 1, 2021. Late winter is always tiresome, like a guest who […]

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a fun day. Who wouldn’t like a day synonymous with chocolate! Like most holidays, we learn the Valentine’s Day traditions as children. A day full of hearts, love, well wishes and sweets. It isn’t practiced in all countries, but it is firmly rooted in my life. Going back 100 years, I have […]

Winter

A fluffy snow arrived last night. The snow fell in thick clusters of flakes. The temperature was quite chilly. The result is trees and bushes with what appears to be a generous dusting of powder sugar coating everything. It reminds me of childhood and the wonder of waking up to a snow covered yard, hoping […]

Christmas Eve

What a difference a year makes. While sitting in church on Christmas Eve this year I recalled my experience the year before, in 2019. Then I had waited outside St. Thomas’ church, on 5th avenue in New York City, for over an hour in the cold – just to ensure I would have a place […]