Nothing like wandering around in the bowels of a lovingly restored battleship to open your eyes to the daunting threat America faced on the eve of the Second World War. Destined to be sold for scrap after her decommissioning, the U.S.S. North Carolina now floats proudly in her moorings on the Cape Fear River opposite … Continue reading U.S.S. North Carolina: Jewel of Wilmington
Vacations
Wilmington in Black and White
We pulled the Subaru into our Vermont driveway late yesterday afternoon with another 2,200 miles on it, a couple of road-weary travelers we, still a little sugar-frosted from the beach and lightly crisped around the edges. I made it all the way to the Pennsylvania state line on Saturday before I fought back tears thinking … Continue reading Wilmington in Black and White
Wilmington Lifts Her Skirts, Just a Little
Yesterday I had the 23-y-o all to myself for several indulgent hours while Handsome Chef Boyfriend played golf, something he does exceedingly well but has far too little time to do. And wouldn't you know the instant my son and I pulled out of the golf course we met a jeep in traffic whose driver spotted our … Continue reading Wilmington Lifts Her Skirts, Just a Little
Way Down South Trip: Travel Days Are Difficult
Really I have so little to complain about: Handsome Chef Boyfriend did the lion's share of driving today, from the moment we pulled off our mountain all the way to somewhere-or-other just past Fredericksburg, VA, where we missed our intended exit. A few truths from the day: Three in the morning is a difficult time … Continue reading Way Down South Trip: Travel Days Are Difficult
How many Vermonters does it take…
...to change a lightbulb? Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I are T minus five days to liftoff for our Way Down South trip, part the second, with an impossible work load to accomplish ‘til then. I am a compulsive maker of lists, less compulsive in their execution. In a perfect world we’d have a vacation week … Continue reading How many Vermonters does it take…
Summer Reading: Some Promising Looking Fresh Hell
What fresh hell can this be? It is a line sometimes attributed to Shakespeare, but Dorothy Parker said it. Dang Shakespeare. It's one of those quips that sounds so civilized, so much better than any number of other crude things one might choose to say when a situation demands it (wtf comes to mind). I found Dorothy … Continue reading Summer Reading: Some Promising Looking Fresh Hell
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.
Homecoming Finale: In the Company of Artists
That is one Gwynn Root, a beautiful professional ballerina who currently dances for Festival Ballet in Providence, Rhode Island, although she has danced professionally with several other companies in her career to date. Here she is more recently, with Festival this past summer, in an image from the WaterFire Providence website: I met Gwynn eight … Continue reading Homecoming Finale: In the Company of Artists
Homecoming, Part the Fifth
That's me up there, flanked by my bosom buddies Bett and Emily. The three of us and our families have known each other for decades. They are the kind of people who see you through everything that happens in your life, and you them. I assumed we'd be together as friends forever. And there are … Continue reading Homecoming, Part the Fifth
Homecoming, Part the Fourth
I don't know what it is about ballet schools and railroads, but just about every single school where I've studied or taught has been on top of them; you learn to deal with the teeth-rattling thunder of the enormous diesel engines barreling down the tracks. It's part and parcel of operating in a low rent … Continue reading Homecoming, Part the Fourth
Sycamore Stories 