That was a recent winter morning here in the southwest quadrant of Vermont, USA, rare sunlight dappling the woods behind the house. Lately our days have started with temperatures at or below zero, typically without sunshine. Nights have been much colder. One morning last week my car would not turn over without convincing, and then … Continue reading March 1, 2015 Vital Signs: A Letter Home
Preconceived Notions: Expanding an Idea
Disclaimer: this is a post about ballet school. It is also the start of a conversation. Even if you know nothing of ballet or ballet school, this might resonate with you if you have ever had the joy and the challenge of parenting a young child. Read on. Last week a local magazine whose demographic … Continue reading Preconceived Notions: Expanding an Idea
Rebecca’s Reading Challenge
Rebecca is an intelligent, creative woman whose work I had only known through her blog when I arrived in Vermont. Later we met in person on several very happy occasions, once at her beautiful home (we also discovered we lived on roughly opposite ends of the exact same rural highway). Anywho. About a month ago … Continue reading Rebecca’s Reading Challenge
Somebody Please Hand Me My Oil Can
Dancers have such ugly feet.--Anne Bancroft, The Turning Point Handsome Chef Boyfriend looked at that photo and said, Your feet don't look that bad in real life. Cheeky. I don't really care how they look (a benefit of age and wisdom, I think). They've served me pretty well for most of my life. Recently not so … Continue reading Somebody Please Hand Me My Oil Can
Weekend Wandering
worryworryworryworryworryworry
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
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.
First Day Jitters
Yesterday dawned clear and sunny and very cold in central Vermont, my last time to wake up in the loft, HCB at my side. We had the big work of packing and moving ahead of us, still time for a final cup of coffee before we pushed up our sleeves. The winter storm that is … Continue reading First Day Jitters
Pleasantly Neurotic
One thing I've learned from hanging around with shrink friends through the years: everybody behaves neurotically sometimes--nobody is exempt. Getting a diagnosis as clinically neurotic in some way depends on where your behavior lies along a continuum--are you neurotic all the time, or are you a once-in-a-while, casual neurotic? I have self-diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder--not … Continue reading Pleasantly Neurotic
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
Sycamore Stories 