My in-laws put a swimming pool in their back yard the summer after my first child was born. I’m not a good swimmer, but I love hanging out by pools, at least until my fair skin starts to burn. It was wonderful to have a place to go to relax […]
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Cloisters: Transplanting History Across the Seas and Through the Centuries
My son says that when he lived in New York several years ago I told him I wanted to see the Cloisters when I visited him. I don’t remember that conversation, though he has a better memory than I do. In any event, we did not make it to the […]
Continue readingThe Boy Wonder
When my son was about three, he went through a Batman phase that lasted several months to a year. He had Batman pajamas and underwear. He had a toy Batmobile, which is still in our basement. He ran around the house singing, “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, Batman!” (Did I do that […]
Continue readingA Christmas Stocking Tantrum
My Christmas preparations are about finished—the cards are mailed, the packages wrapped, and the house decorated. I still have some cooking to do, but it will get done. I don’t do a lot of decorating for holidays. When the children were small, I made token attempts for Valentine’s Day, Easter, […]
Continue readingThe Orange Juice Incident
I know it is un-American, but I do not like orange juice. The pulp in it clings to my tongue and doesn’t go down easily. The acid churns my stomach. And it’s just so orangey. I also don’t like to travel during the holidays. I started being responsible for my […]
Continue readingOn Homes and Stability
This coming Sunday, September 13, is Grandparents Day. I was searching for a topic involving grandparents to write about, and I came across a post I wrote about my maternal grandparents’ house. I said in that post that these grandparents lived in that house from 1937 until 1962—twenty-five years. I […]
Continue readingCannon Beach, Oregon: Then and Now
I was fortunate to spend several days at Cannon Beach, Oregon, in late July. We stayed at a resort just north of Haystack Rock, right on the beach, and the weather was perfect—mid-70s, and lots of sunshine. I can’t say I got my fill of walks on the beach (see […]
Continue readingMud: A First Experience at Camp
One morning earlier this month I read Emily Parnell’s column in The Kansas City Star, entitled “Letting Out the Wild Child Within” (July 14, 2015). I laughed at her humorous account of her son’s time at summer camp, which she compared to Lord of the Flies. Her story took me right back […]
Continue readingSounds of Cicadas
Many memories are triggered by milestone anniversaries—things that happened five or ten or twenty-five years ago. But this memory of mine returned because of a seventeen-year anniversary. The seventeen-year cicadas are back this summer. It’s been so rainy that I haven’t been outside to hear them much, but the news reports […]
Continue readingSpeaking of Regrets: A Mother’s Perspective
It dawned on me recently that my son graduated from high school fifteen years ago this year. His graduation ceremony was actually in May 2000, but I missed remembering the milestone last month. As I reflected on his graduation (once I did remember it), I thought about the different directions […]
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