I’ve always loved that Billy Joel song about a New York state of mind, and frequently find myself humming the tune, especially since I no longer live up East and sorely miss The City. Lately, however, I’ve found myself ushered into a “California state of… Read More
Galveston, oh Galveston … Read More
“Fascinating Rhythm” is an old, old George and Ira Gershwin song first introduced by Fred and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical Lady Be Good in 1926. It has what Ira Gershwin described as “tricky polyrhythms,” which made it hard for him to write the… Read More
During the 40+ years I did not reside in my home state, the main thing I missed about Texas (besides my Mother) was the sky. The sky here is so wide, so blue, so often completely cloudless, and sometimes so spectacularly vivd that… Read More
It’s winter and unusually cold here already in South Texas with several nights dipping below freezing and several days hovering just above. After the devastation caused by last year’s severe winter storm, my husband is busily trying to protect his fragile flowers and shrubs with… Read More
Wayne Thiebaud died on Christmas Day. He was 101. The name probably doesn’t mean much to you — it didn’t to me either until a few weeks ago —but you would no doubt instantly recognize his delightful paintings of cakes, pies, and ice… Read More
Okay, so the gifts are put away and the wrappings are disposed of, the leftovers have been eaten and the china has returned to the sideboard, the holiday phone calls have been made, the “Year in Review” has been written in the Christmas Memories… Read More
I’ve always been an avid list-maker, but “avid” is hardly the word for it this year— more like compulsive. Perhaps that’s because I’ve suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to revive some of our old Christmas traditions, most of which we haven’t enjoyed since my… Read More
As we come to the end of another difficult year and the beginning of another holiday season, we look for reasons to be grateful and, dare I say it —even reasons to be hopeful for the year ahead. No, the pandemic isn’t over, though some… Read More
[Above: “My Pandemic Quilt” by Laurie Ceesay Landree in Pandemic: Life in Lockdown, a special exhibition at the Houston International Quilt Festival, 2020] The Houston International Quilt Festival just closed at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown. Since Tokyo permanently suspended its… Read More
the narrative thread 