I’ve been a good dog

Dear Santa, I was a good dog this year. Every morning, I made sure that Keith and Carole got up early, and I took Carole for her walk. Then I helped with leftovers from breakfast and lunch. All day, I guarded the house, growled and barked at intruders: delivery...

Christmas Cookies

At Christmastime, many of us decorate our homes and offices, send greetings, visit family and give gifts more than usual. My children and I always baked cookies to thank teachers, neighbors, friends and colleagues. After my children left the nest, holiday cookie...

Community

Last weekend, Keith and I had lunch at Wild Wolf’s newly opened restaurant, part of  “the Brew Ridge Trail”. The service was attentive in mid-afternoon and atmosphere comfortable on the enclosed porch of a renovated old school house. I sampled a flight of five...

Writing in a Fog

One morning last week, we woke in a fog, the grey, socked-in, can’t-see-much-beyond-your-nose kind. Fog is underrated, I thought. Cocooned like this, it’s just the work and me. No gazing dreamily at the Three Peaks’ beautiful painterly colors and the Rockfish...

Thanksgiving and Humility

Thanksgiving celebrates harvest time during the fall in nature’s calendar, but for me the holiday changed according to the seasons of life. In the “springtime” of youth, I set the table, helped in the kitchen and babysat younger cousins during dinner. When the...