Ask a writer why she writes and she’s bound to say it has something to do with her love of the places reading has always taken her. Stories are what we live by. Great writers tell them in ways that move us with profound insights—not to mention unforgettable characters. Then there’s the music of … [Read more...] about The minor fall/the major lift
One year ends/another begins
Barely a week into December and already my thoughts are turning to the New Year. Can’t say I feel its approach with a sense of the promise I was counting on. But a certain resolve has crept in. Never one to rush time, I can’t help seeing the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year as packaged and … [Read more...] about One year ends/another begins
November 18th 2016
Thirty-two years ago today I got married. I was three weeks away from turning 35. My husband likes to joke that I had the date chosen when I proposed a few months earlier but that’s not quite the case. Here’s the way it played out: We met in 1982, and I confess to having had that ‘this is the … [Read more...] about November 18th 2016
November 9th 2016
The context of what I want to share doesn’t matter. For all I remember it was probably a really bad haircut. But today is a really weird day. And everyone who reads her writing always says that my mom has a way with words, so here are some words from her to me that I found in a card she wrote me … [Read more...] about November 9th 2016
Dispatches from the desert #2
In terms of memory banks (we’re not talking the tech variety here), I’m more than a millionaire. Make all the jokes you want about the aging process and slowing synapses, but when it comes to moments I know will demand recall with a smile, I’m the first to quip: “Put it in the memory … [Read more...] about Dispatches from the desert #2
Dispatches (soon to come) from the desert
Good things come in the most unexpected packages— Two weeks ago my UPS delivery man hands me a package, no recognizable return address on the shipping label. I’m baffled, not that I don’t love a surprise. But when that big brown truck barrels up my driveway, more often than not I can … [Read more...] about Dispatches (soon to come) from the desert