Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina straddles a line that lies somewhere between the urban luster of downtown Charlotte, and its well-heeled, Old-Money South Carolina neighbor, Charleston. It’s decidedly scrappier than either city, yet possesses the allure of the Coast and the emergent culture of a city coming into its own as a destination. The Chef and … Continue reading Travel Story: Three Days in Wilmington
Scout-the-Lab
Travel Story: Four Days in Charleston
Really, it was four days in nearby Mt. Pleasant, SC, with a single worthwhile diversion into downtown Charleston. This was the trip we planned last summer, to see my ex-sister-in-law-but-still-my-sister and her sweet Waco-the-Lab. But last year Hurricane Irma had other plans, thus derailing ours. Weather. It’s why we chose July this time around instead … Continue reading Travel Story: Four Days in Charleston
Travel Story: One Night in Charlotte
The plans to meet us in Charlotte unfolded exactly the way all the twenty-something’s plans do, fraught with angst, vacillating wildly between Yes-I’m-Coming and No-I-Can’t, and with no small measure of hand wringing and car polishing, I am guessing. Because when your mom-who-lives-a-thousand-miles-away comes within spitting distance of where you are right now, it’s obviously … Continue reading Travel Story: One Night in Charlotte
Travel Story: Way Down South Part IV
The suitcases have come out of the closet, and Scout-the-Labish knows something’s up. This time last year our planned vacation travel was still several months off. But hurricanes have derailed us twice now. First time was only a glancing blow, but there was torrential rain, the kind that falls sideways in sheets. At one point … Continue reading Travel Story: Way Down South Part IV
Food Story: Nourishment for Body and Soul
When I was a kid my mom often opined that overweight children were proof positive of a household where food was a stand-in for love. Maybe. I submit there are times food offered as love is the best kind of nourishment. Like yesterday. Once in a while running on a hot day makes me sick. … Continue reading Food Story: Nourishment for Body and Soul
Gardening Story: True Confessions of a Mulching Enthusiast
Mulch, gentle reader, covers a multitude of sins. I know how to spread mulch: I am good at spreading mulch. David-the-Chef wants to know why on earth we should have a load of mulch delivered. I ask you, Does this question even merit an answer? Isn't it OBVIOUS? Mulch gussies up everything it touches: it is … Continue reading Gardening Story: True Confessions of a Mulching Enthusiast
Sunday Photo Essay: Mile-Around Woods Unleashed
Scarcely a ten-minute car ride from the bustle of our neighborhood lies one of southwestern Vermont’s best kept secrets, the Mile-Around Woods. It is a vast property once held by private landowners but now preserved by a conservation group and open to the public. Altogether, Mile-Around consists of a circular carriage road dating to the … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Mile-Around Woods Unleashed
Dog Story: A Crust of Bread, a Glass of Wine…and a Marrow Bone
On Friday night David-the-Chef made salmon for our supper, and as he always does, crisped the skins in the hot pan next to our fish. These make the most delectable dog treats, with a little of the salmon meat still clinging to them. Scout-the-Labish never turns down a piece of crisped salmon skin. In fact, … Continue reading Dog Story: A Crust of Bread, a Glass of Wine…and a Marrow Bone
Artifact Story: Found Objects
I stood in my friend Jane’s big, open kitchen in Knoxville one morning nearly a decade ago gazing upward at a particular skylight over the adjacent living area. Several other friends stood there with me, our hands on our hips and our brows furrowed, trying to get a better look. A moment earlier one of … Continue reading Artifact Story: Found Objects
The Stories Our Scars Tell
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, goes the saying. When my kiddo was only a peanut he took a bad spill in the foyer of our Knoxville home and landed face first on an unforgiving surface. His cheek met the pointy corner of a single step leading from the foyer into the kitchen of … Continue reading The Stories Our Scars Tell
