exquisite flowers, not from our garden Early this morning I stood outside near the badminton net in our back yard, clutching a dog poop bag in my hand and waiting for Scout to do his doings. Something on the ground caught my eye; further examination revealed a half-eaten green tomato, abandoned. Dammit. Hope you enjoyed … Continue reading Journal Entry: Gardening Is Difficult, and Other Truths
Vermont
Travel Story: A Vacation Lamentation
O, Plague that has stolen so much from so many, will you truly deny us our annual purgative pilgrimage? (Unmoved, Plague replies through a yawn, a pox upon your house.) Back in February we began the calculus as always, surfing for dog-friendly digs, option weighing, and atlas consulting—the old-school version with the spiral binding, a … Continue reading Travel Story: A Vacation Lamentation
Sunday Photo Essay: A Birthday Celebration
tide-me-over birthday cupcake It's annual birthday week for The Chef and me: Mine was last Monday, his is this coming Tuesday. On Monday he brought me home a single cupcake to celebrate the occasion: lemon, with lemon buttercream icing and lemon curd filling—lemony goodness, through and through. But we saved our grand celebration for yesterday, … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: A Birthday Celebration
Journal Entry: I Roast a Red Pepper
roasted red peppers …without burning down the house. The Chef was on an errand and I wanted to make Salade Niçoise, which calls for roasted red peppers. So I leaned on this little video by Chef Shelley Young at The Chopping Block, et, voilà! My first effort was not too bad, although my peppers were … Continue reading Journal Entry: I Roast a Red Pepper
Beware of Goat (And So Much More)
our sign is up Would that Van-Goat-the-Statuary were all any of us needed to beware of at this moment. One of my bffs down South once told me a story that will stay with me forever. It happened way back in the day when she was still in college in her twenties, and working part-time … Continue reading Beware of Goat (And So Much More)
Sunday Photo Essay: Mushrooms Are Good and Other Truths
a good mushroom When I was growing up you could not have paid me enough money to eat a mushroom; this never dissuaded my mom from trying. She made beef stroganoff as part of the dinner entrée rotation, and evidently the recipe called for slimy little canned mushrooms. The sensorial outrage going on inside my … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Mushrooms Are Good and Other Truths
Surviving a Pandemic: Got a Plan B?
Knoxville Ballet School In 2006 I launched Knoxville Ballet School with the goal of bringing classical instruction in its purest form to a city of roughly a half million—unrelenting quality in that singular discipline, and nothing else, would be the thing to distinguish what I was peddling from what other schools in the area offered, … Continue reading Surviving a Pandemic: Got a Plan B?
Sunday Photo Essay: Look Busy
Saturday morning busy I can't recall a moment in my lifetime at once so exciting and completely anguished. SpaceX launched the Dragon Endeavor successfully yesterday with two American astronauts aboard, and today docked at the International Space Station. Meanwhile, American cities are burning, we're still navigating a deadly pandemic, and people are dying. This control … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Look Busy
Frozen Moments: A Memory
Impressionist-like landscape Leaving work last Friday afternoon, and even a couple of moments earlier in the week, I paused to drink in the landscape around our office campus, so eerily quiet just now. It always possesses a bucolic beauty, even on the bleakest winter days. But at some point when I was too preoccupied with … Continue reading Frozen Moments: A Memory
Journal Entry: Rules and Regs
I follow rules and regs. (What are rules and regs?) COVID-19 wouldn’t have impressed my great-grandmother Gracie too much, I’ll bet. I was expressing this notion to a few colleagues on Friday in an office ping thread where we were heaving a collective sigh over the language that’s everywhere you turn right now: in these … Continue reading Journal Entry: Rules and Regs
