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
Transitions
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
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
Going On…
Two simple words heard routinely in the context of the ballet studio during the learning process. Implicit in them is the notion that you have internalized one phrase or movement sufficiently to move ahead to the next. When I closed my small school in Knoxville two and a half years ago I (wistfully) left behind … Continue reading Going On…
Incommunicado
The Internet has been down at my place for the past week. I’ve used my cell phone’s hot spot to get on, but only when I absolutely must because I’m already into data overages and extra fees. And today my (awful) Internet provider robo-called to let me know they could not fix the problem due … Continue reading Incommunicado
My Ageing Dilemma
A friend snapped this photo of me last month at an event in Cambridge, New York at the home of writer Jon Katz and his wife, artist Maria Wulf. Confession: seeing it the first time gave me a little jolt. I think many of us carry around an idea of how we look in our … Continue reading My Ageing Dilemma
Sycamore Stories 