When my elderly aunt with no children died, we, the nephews and nieces close by, hosted her memorial service for her friends in the nursing home and the city. She had outlived many of her contemporaries, so it was a … Read More
The Harmonic Chords of a Train Whistle A freight train rolls by on the tracks, and the engineer pulls the whistle, which reverberates across the river and comes back as an echo. The right combination of speed, the Doppler effect, … Read More
Sorry I have not posted for awhile, but the website went down for reasons I don’t understand and came back online for reasons I don’t understand. I do understand that a writer these days must become minimally technically proficient, which … Read More
Bird Names Become Political The American Ornithological Society recently announced that all bird names will now be changed to names that are either descriptive of the bird itself or its ecology. Birds that are named for people will have their … Read More
Boomers may have had that distance If you created a table of organization for my birth family, the father would have been CEO, then the mother as COO, with all other lines reporting up through her. I don’t think this … Read More
The Zing of Feeling Enmity Polarization Has Emotional Roots I did not want to be in a support staff position. I wanted to be in operations and run the show, even if it was a small show. I did, eventually. … Read More
The comfort of pillows My four-year-old grandchild was too sick for daycare today but not sick enough to be down and out. She had a bad cold and a slight fever. The last time she had a bad cold, I … Read More
Being in love with the idea of love · When I was a senior in college and confused, I asked a lot of different people, older than me, almost like a research project, why they married their spouses. The answers … Read More
Partnerships between women 100 years ago Boston marriage refers to a long-time partnership between single women, often during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The term originated with Henry James’ novel The Bostonians, depicting a long-term relationship between two … Read More
Whitman’s, Russell Stover, a nostalgic box with a map The stores filled up with Valentine’s goodies the day after New Year’s. I glided past the displayed heart-shaped boxes that have more cost in the boxes — red satin, ribbons, fake … Read More