Can't help it, pretty sure it's in my DNA. The only thing anybody is talking about is the weather. If there is one thing that is sure to send me into a tailspin before you can say Bob's your uncle, it's weather. I get it from my dad. (Sorry, Dad. You know I speak the … Continue reading worryworryworryworryworryworry
Winter
Now, if I can just…figure out…how to…work this…thing.
About a half inch of packed ice covered Vermont's Route 7A between Arlington and Bennington on Monday morning after a tricky storm last weekend began with snow and ended with rain. A half-hour commute to work stretched into roughly fifty minutes, not bad considering. I still do not understand winter road conditions in New England, … Continue reading Now, if I can just…figure out…how to…work this…thing.
Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree
It is an expression Handsome Chef Boyfriend uses when he trudges up the back steps to my place and throws open the door for a visit, chiding me for waste. The loft is beautiful, full of volume and warmth with its cheerful yellow walls we painted when I moved in. It was a soft spot … Continue reading Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree
The Nutcracker is here to stay.
I like to think Peter (Pyotr for purists) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a rock star in his day, but I can’t say for sure. He certainly was an attractive man. One thing I can say is that his Nutcracker score (penned not long before his death) is tacky ballet music through and through. There, I’ve said … Continue reading The Nutcracker is here to stay.
Seven Dangerous Words
Hey Mom: Can I borrow your phone? When you have not had the pleasure of sharing company with your irreverent twenty-one-year-old son for a while (like, say, for TWO YEARS), it is easy to forget that this is probably a loaded question. And that you should ask why. And make it clear that your phone … Continue reading Seven Dangerous Words
Step Inside My Office, III
Slate Grey December Day in Woodstock, Vermont
Resolve
I’ve worn out this plucky little word as both noun and verb for about a week. The nor’easter that moved into New England on Tuesday stalled out right over my neighborhood, evidently right on top of my house. The snow came stealthily at times and brazenly at others, mostly in silence. It was wet and … Continue reading Resolve
Waning Summer
I have a pair of visitors who make their presence known every single morning on my front porch, expecting to be fed. I confess I have cultivated this habit in them. Handsome Chef Boyfriend chides me about this, insisting I will be the kind of old lady one day who can't afford to put food … Continue reading Waning Summer
Gracie’s Tomatoes
My great-grandmother lived 'til I was into my thirties; notably, for all but the last couple of months of her life, she was pretty dang lucid, too. Had she survived another year she'd have met her great-great-grandson. But, to quote a friend, she still won. Gracie. She lived in a tiny, vernacular cottage perched at … Continue reading Gracie’s Tomatoes
Rancor-Me-Not
This morning my Handsome Chef Boyfriend gave me a smooch on his way out the door back to his own stomping grounds, just a bit further afield than I would like. Be careful, I said; let me know when you’re there safe. Do you ever stop worrying about things, he chided? No. Never. I never, … Continue reading Rancor-Me-Not
Sycamore Stories 