It just doesn’t always heart me back. The man rapping his knuckles against my car window had no teeth. He wore unbuttoned flannel over a filthy shirt and baggy trousers, which were held aloft over his pot belly by a pair of suspenders; his scruffy beard betrayed a recent snack. It was broad daylight in … Continue reading Home is where Your Heart Is: I Heart Vermont, Kinda
Handsome Chef Boyfriend
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
Providential Weekend: Photo Essay
How often does the opportunity arise to combine three cherished interests—in my case ballet, architecture, and cuisine—in a single weekend? Almost never, but I just pulled it off. Add to this the intoxicating joy of unfettered time with Handsome Chef Boyfriend and a happy reunion with one Gwynn Root at the end of her second of three … Continue reading Providential Weekend: Photo Essay
Swan Lake, You Rock My World.
Prologue I wish I could rewind a particular winter night about a dozen years ago at the Kennedy Center. I wish I could find all the people who were sitting in the right section of the orchestra at the opera house there, people who thought they were about to enjoy a memorable performance of Swan Lake, and tell … Continue reading Swan Lake, You Rock My World.
Garden State Highway: Beauty in Unexpected Places
If driving were a metaphor for the rancor which seems to characterize the tenor of American politics these days, it is playing out on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. Any remnant of human decency that real, face-to-face interaction demands is lost once you're behind the wheel of a car. And on this particular stretch of … Continue reading Garden State Highway: Beauty in Unexpected Places
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
It’s Christmas (Excess) Time: I Need Lettuce
I'm just gonna come out and say Christmas in this here country seems mainly about excess in just about every corner of life: lights and larger-than-life inflatable yard thingummies, unfortunate arrangements of popular Christmas carols, sad-looking folk ringing bells over red pots outside supermarkets and big box stores (do not even get me started on that … Continue reading It’s Christmas (Excess) Time: I Need Lettuce
(Dis)Comfort and Joy
Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I spent yesterday Christmas shopping over in Saratoga Springs. We had fun, observed people, marveled at humanity, privately assessed it as we are wont to do for amusement. We ate lunch and dinner out, rare for us, and arrived home content if a little weary, with a bargain Christmas tree tied to the … Continue reading (Dis)Comfort and Joy
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
Sycamore Stories 