It happens the first week in every January, and here it is again, right on schedule: I must have lettuce. Lots of it and all kinds, and other crunchy greens, and an embarrassment of colorful, raw vegetables. It’s not about cleansing or weight loss, but instead is the natural consequence of a month of indulgences … Continue reading Bee in My Bonnet
Food
Charleston Reunions, Enough Sun in Wrightsville Beach
This morning I lamented to anybody listening it feels like we've been in the car for three days. We have, kinda. Sunday afternoon we arrived road-weary at my ex-sister-in-law's-but-still-my-sister's Mt. Pleasant home (we just call it Charleston, it's close enough) for a long overdue visit, first one in the flesh in too many years. One … Continue reading Charleston Reunions, Enough Sun in Wrightsville Beach
Farm Stand and General Store: Evolved New England Institutions
The concept of the general store revealed itself to me the instant I had boots on the ground in my new home state of Vermont. Most small farming communities here have one (and so that would be most of Vermont, which is largely made of small farming communities). But their store offerings vary widely, to say … Continue reading Farm Stand and General Store: Evolved New England Institutions
Making Sense out of the Senseless: Love is the Answer
Annie Lennox urged me to pick up my feet and pick up the pace through sweaty ear buds, her lyrics suffused with emotions: love, loss, loneliness, joy, she knows each of them intimately, she sings. A perfect Vermont Saturday morning was the only other motivation I needed to run: success is measured in hot cheeks, … Continue reading Making Sense out of the Senseless: Love is the Answer
Self-Stewardship: Healthful Habits, Happy Body
Updates: I am pretty dang pleased to report my foot issues have not yet derailed this latest big effort to resurrect my beloved running habit. I told somebody yesterday I've learned to view every glorious, temperate day in Vermont as a gift; last week there were several of them, and the temperature once even climbed into the … Continue reading Self-Stewardship: Healthful Habits, Happy Body
New England Track & Field Championships: When Life Hands You Lemons
It's track and field season here in New England; maybe in other parts of the world, too, not sure—this is well outside my life experience bubble. 'Tis also the season when Handsome Chef Boyfriend morphs from pastry chef by day to pole vaulting coach by afternoon and the occasional weekend, true story: he coaches invincible … Continue reading New England Track & Field Championships: When Life Hands You Lemons
Warm Days & Cold Nights: Sugaring Time in Vermont
Yesterday Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I drove past three sap buckets hanging on roadside telephone poles in Upstate New York; somebody's got a sense of humor. HCB's brother would enjoy that, I am sure; there is a longstanding dispute in this family about who makes the best syrup—New York (where brother S lives) or Vermont. Though I … Continue reading Warm Days & Cold Nights: Sugaring Time in Vermont
Howdy, 2016. I already miss you, 2015.
New Year's Eve 2015, a street corner in Saratoga Springs, NY. My boy Bentley and his friend Billy have been with us for a week, headed back to their respective homes in Tennessee at an obscene hour tomorrow morning. We've had a great time together. I am always amazed how you can blink and it's gone: … Continue reading Howdy, 2016. I already miss you, 2015.
Thanksgiving Eve: Grumpy Norwegian Chefs
'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving and Handsome Chef Boyfriend decided he would make homemade lefse, because what else is there to do before the biggest culinary day of the calendar year after you have already spent hours working on your feet as a pastry chef? It is pronounced lɛfsə (good luck with that, try leff-sa instead) … Continue reading Thanksgiving Eve: Grumpy Norwegian Chefs
Race Relations
Sometimes you get rapped on the knuckles by an ageing matriarch; it is possible you deserved it. That is Kathryn "Katie" Blackwell, holding my brother Tom. The photo was made some time in 1969 or '70 when he was still a newbie; my mom handed it to me a couple months ago when I saw … Continue reading Race Relations
Sycamore Stories 