I always think of my maternal grandmother, Alberta Sullivan Joslin, affectionately known as 'Bobbie' to her family and friends, on February 29th, which was her birthday. To me, though, she was simply 'Bob Mama.' I don't have many photos of her; she was only 19 in that one, which is a photo I made of … Continue reading Journal Entry: When February 29th Comes Calling
Dogs
Sunday Journal Entry: Staying True to Intentions
Sunday, February 9th, 2020, and we’ve settled into mid-winter in Vermont, the moment when Christmas 2019 is already a distant memory, but the first tender shoots poking up through the earth are still weeks or even months away, never mind the vernal equinox: We’re on our own time up here. Somebody warned me about long … Continue reading Sunday Journal Entry: Staying True to Intentions
Journal Entry: A Holiday Reflection
Today is my last ‘official’ day off in a week with a couple of holidays plunked smack into the middle of it, courtesy of our Gregorian calendar. I exercised a little opportunism, nudging some unclaimed vacation time around what was already coming, like a pair of bookends. There is still the weekend ahead, which will … Continue reading Journal Entry: A Holiday Reflection
Thanksgiving Journal: Family Ties
Today when my irreverent twenty-something video messaged me, I explained I was making cookie press cookies. He watched me mix in the flour and work the batter until the dough was the right consistency to extrude through the press. I said the last time I used this little device he was still in elementary school, … Continue reading Thanksgiving Journal: Family Ties
Photo Essay: Golden Pea and Sweet Potato Soup
A gray fall Sunday in Vermont begged for soup making. We'll have our first plowable snow of the season tomorrow night, but we'll enjoy this soup all week long. The Chef is playing his first hockey game of the season tonight; the soup will wait for him. Thinking of all the veterans who made it … Continue reading Photo Essay: Golden Pea and Sweet Potato Soup
Journal Entry: Stewing on a Sunday
This morning I woke with the left side of my tongue chewed red and raw. With The Chef away to attend a family wedding down in South Carolina for the last few days, my universe (Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever’s, too) is out of kilter, and I’ve slept fitfully, occasionally waking with doggie toes in my face despite the … Continue reading Journal Entry: Stewing on a Sunday
Journal Entry: Chef David Bought Me a Goat
And I’m calling him Van Goat. I’ve been making noise about getting a goat for some time now, mainly for the joy of watching the color drain from The Chef’s face. What use would I have for a goat—where would it live, and when on earth would I have time to take care of it? … Continue reading Journal Entry: Chef David Bought Me a Goat
Dog Story: We Try Dock Diving
There’s a little piece of conventional wisdom that goes something like, know your limits. If you’re a parent, then you know this truth applies also to your child’s or children’s limits: Everybody wins when you understand what you can reasonably expect of your kiddo—and what you can’t. Turns out the same thing’s true for doggies. … Continue reading Dog Story: We Try Dock Diving
Journal Entry: We Have Cicadas!
And the photographic evidence is right up ^ there. Last Saturday morning Scoutie and I struck out on our usual city run, which takes us down a couple of tree-line pathways that wind along the Walloomsac River in a sort of parklike setting—same river in fact that delineates the southern boundary of our property—before we … Continue reading Journal Entry: We Have Cicadas!
Homecoming Story: My Piano Is Back
At long last, here sits my piano, my mother’s before me, drying out in our Vermont living room. It smells about how you’d imagine any piece of wood furniture with metal and felt and other materials might after deteriorating in a damp basement garage for the past five winters, and summers, through as many or … Continue reading Homecoming Story: My Piano Is Back
Sycamore Stories 