The month of April is playing tricks on me. No sooner do I shed the fleece jacket for a morning walk one day, a sweatshirt all I need, than I find myself putting it on again the next day. Expectation really resists being defied. Okay, so the groundhog screwed up, promising an early spring; instead [...]

Last year for my birthday my daughter bought me a scarf.  Pretty as it was, this gift came with a little zing, a point to be made. The scarf (a Missoni design) was a Target ‘original’, part of its upscale designer collections. I admit it, there’s something in me that resists the commodification of high [...]

Today I’m thinking about a red dress.  A perfect red, somewhere between fire engine and wine. Fitted button-down bodice edged in a ruffle made from the same soft cotton as the dress.  The skirt was full, a little flounce to it, above the knee. I was twelve (give or take a year) and my best [...]

There’s a woman who lives down the road from me, a hearty soul who ran the family business, a septic-tank service, until Alzheimer’s put the brakes on some of her organizational skills.  I’d see her on the road walking one dog or another (she has two), a stick in hand to keep at bay any [...]

I’m standing (im)patiently in line at my local Barnes & Noble, my attention riveted by a woman at the checkout counter.  Putting aside the Blackberry she’s fiddling with while the cashier, polite and as efficient as she can be, does her best to move the transaction along, it is her pencil-cut white shorts, halfway down [...]

There’s a woman who lives down the road from me, a hearty soul who ran the family business, a septic-tank service, until Alzheimer’s put the brakes on some of her organizational skills.  I’d see her on the road walking one dog or another (she has two), a stick in hand to keep at bay any [...]