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