Anne Morrow Lindbergh published Gift from the Sea in 1955. It was on my mother’s nightstand, and like many women of that era, I think she treasured the book. I was surprised to see it described as a proto-feminist book, … Read More
When will the Baby Boomers move off-stage? The daily political discourse right now is an assault, and I am not attributing that assault to age, but maybe this generation has had its run. What would be the impact if tomorrow … Read More
I went to a poetry slam on Sunday night and I placed second, out of not many. I lost to a young woman who used the F-word in all forms of speech – adjective, adverb, verb, noun – but she … Read More
Every autumn I wait to see how late in the calendar I go before I turn on the furnace. I don’t know why this frugality is a pleasure, because the self-abnegation, the suffering, is only mine to bear. I don’t … Read More
Remember the marshmallow test? It still comes up in casual reference. Forty years ago, a Stanford researcher put a marshmallow in front of a small child, and basically said “Don’t touch it, I have to leave the room.” The ability … Read More
Becoming the Music Considering Matthew Shepard is a haunting, beautiful cantata sung by Conspirare, a renowned choral group. The night I heard a live performance, the audience was part of each note; we listened through to the end without one … Read More
Age – which we wear by virtue of being retired—is a great equalizer for women. Maybe men, too, I don’t know, but there were some decades when being a single woman, a single parent, definitely felt like not being chosen … Read More