It hits me every year, just as January rolls into February: the shift in daylight, so incremental until it's suddenly noticeable, particularly around sunset. Groundhog aside, all you need is to pay attention to the light to know spring is on its way. Of all the months in the year, February … [Read more...] about Isn’t it just like February?
What did you read this summer?
Summer reading is a world unto itself. It’s not as if the love of books doesn’t have us immersed in reading all year long. But summer brings with it memories of freedom from school, with all that’s attached to assigned reading, textbook or otherwise. Some things, like the smell of library books, … [Read more...] about What did you read this summer?
The road taken
A dream the other night had me rounding a bend onto a city waterfront. I was alone, walking, backpack on my shoulder, no sense of any particular destination along that waterfront. Isn’t that the way it is in dreams—the tease they bring to the waking mind, figure out this one, no neatly spelled … [Read more...] about The road taken
Why I love my daughter
I count it among one of life’s gifts to have a daughter who enjoys doing things with me. Rock concerts. Hiking when we’re on vacation (even if she leaves me in the dust). Shopping. Enjoying the sights and streets of NYC when she comes back East. But it’s something else, as deep in what it says … [Read more...] about Why I love my daughter
Empty nest
This morning I woke to an unfamiliar sound, the gentle beep of a new alarm clock. I’d finally replaced the bulky digital one on my night table. The shop owner promised the mechanism was quiet, no ticking. I almost always wake around the same time every morning, no alarm necessary. It’s a funny … [Read more...] about Empty nest
Every bag has its day
At the very beginning of The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Pamuk’s novel of obsessive love, the narrator buys his fiancée a designer handbag she’d spotted when they passed by a boutique the night before. A simple, thoughtful gesture—to please the woman he’s engaged to—sets his life on an expected … [Read more...] about Every bag has its day
