A recent Sunday New York Times featured full-page photo spreads of people reading all around the City: old people, young people, children; walking, sitting, lying down; on the subway, in a park, on a front stoop… What is it about the summer, exactly, that prompts… Read More
People who don’t know me well would immediately describe me as outgoing, gregarious, animated, even loud. In other words, I appear to exhibit traits that are in direct contrast to the quiet, serious, studious demeanor that we generally ascribe to people we consider “bookish.” But… Read More
The school year is over, the sun is shining, people are out and about (inflation and gas prices be damned) and, in spite of bad news about almost everything every single day, there is a celebratory spirit in the air. I can’t seem to get… Read More
We just returned from a week in San Francisco, our first vacation in over two years. It was the ideal post-Covid travel choice for us because we were able to fly non-stop from home, we returned to a familiar destination, and most importantly, we spent… Read More
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
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
I am in possession of a 1938 Modern Library edition of The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Random House, Inc.). It belonged to my Mother. Along with Charles Dickens, Poe was one of her most favorite authors — 19th century… Read More
Dripping Springs, Texas, is a small, rural town of roughly 6,000 residents located about 25 miles west of Austin. It bills itself as the “Gateway to the Texas Hill Country,” and in truth, it is known for its rolling hills and country character. Long ago,… Read More
Let’s face it: these have been some long, difficult, somewhat depressing 18 months. Even those of us who were managing fairly well all through last year, buoyed as we were by the hope of Covid vaccines, have now become a little frayed around… Read More
the narrative thread 