While picking bits of pumpkin pie from our teeth on the last night of Thanksgiving break, my husband Francis and I sat alone in the family room, mulling over the holiday in silence. It had been very different from other Thanksgiving Days. Our college son’s desire to sleep in his own bed convinced us to…
Book Review
My gravy’s better than your gravy
We do it every year. We cut out recipes. We make lists. We go to the commissary. We elbow each other out of the way to grab turkeys, cranberries, yams, and mini-marshmallows. We jam enough food into our pantries to feed an Army . . . or Navy, as it were. Why? Because it’s Thanksgiving,…
The Power of Keeping Calm
The stump outside my house was the perfect place for chopping up earthworms. At least two feet in diameter, there was enough room across its ringed surface for me to sit and slice at the same time. Despite what one might think, I was and am a non-violent person. But as a child, I believed…
Life lessons from the last of the litter
The cranberry farmer reached a calloused hand into the crate and grabbed the loose scruff of one pup’s neck. Holding the limp six-week old yellow Labrador retriever at eye level, the farmer grumbled, “You can take this one if you want. The rest are spoken for.” We cradled the squishy bundle of softness and puppy…
What I believe about Hell and hand baskets