The period between Christmas and New Year’s is always a time for reflection as we relegate what was to the past, anticipate what might be in the future, and struggle for a clearer perspective in the present. We may not have the benefit of ghosts… Read More
Mallomars are back on grocery shelves, just in time for cooler weather and a cup of afternoon tea. The little marshmallow and graham-cracker cookies coated with dark chocolate are released every September by Nabisco. From their beginnings in New Jersey way back in 1913, they… Read More
(Photo: “Jack,” a quilted wall hanging, 32”x40”.) My mother was a doll house miniaturist. Knowing how much I have always loved Halloween, she surprised me in 1993 with a fully furnished and decorated haunted house she had made for my birthday. She shipped… Read More
Fall has officially come to South Texas. I know that not because any leaves are changing color, but because we’re having those 30 degree daily temperature swings that are so typical of this time of year. Mornings are quite seasonable in the 50s or 60s,… Read More
A couple years ago, as I watched my Mother’s world grow smaller and her ability to navigate even the simplest tasks diminish, I mourned the fact that she was shrinking. As she moved into her 90s, the woman who was once my idol and my… Read More
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” it was the before times …. Our current national situation has generated a whole host of phrases and expressions attempting to express the inexpressible. One that has recently gained… Read More
Here we are in late August, in those dog days of summer when the start of school looms large or, in some areas, has already arrived. l have always loved the fall, always loved the anticipation of another school year (whether as a student,… Read More
The cleaning frenzy continues: room by room, drawer by drawer, closet by closet. Even the pantry got a big make-over last week, which took both of us working for two solid days. The longer we shelter at home, the cleaner the whole house… Read More
Silence makes people uncomfortable. I say that as a very social, very talkative person, a lecturer, a writer, a lover of words who used to have to deliberately restrain herself in the classroom from asking students follow-up questions too soon without giving… Read More
For a person who doesn’t really like to drive, I’ve spent most of my life doing it. I’ve had a driver’s license since I was 14. Back in the 1960s in Texas, a teenager could take driver’s ed in school at 13, get… Read More
