Baggage Claim
Two decades or so ago, my mother told me a story about one particular afternoon meeting of the neighborhood book club, which Mother had founded. During their active child-raising years in the 50s and 60s, the ladies took turns choosing a book and hosting the...
Summarizing
Last Saturday evening, the American Shakespeare Center hosted an event for annual pass holders – those of us who had seen ten or more of the past season’s shows. Co-founder and director Jim Warren spoke and answered questions. “I’ve seen Shakespeare performed many...
Growth Opportunity
I was sitting in my car in the WriterHouse parking lot in Charlottesville, smelling the bagels cooking next door at Bodo’s and talking on my cell phone. An employer had contacted me as a colleague’s job reference. “How would you rate this candidate on a scale of...
Ideal Readers
Last Sunday afternoon, my friend Sarah and I sat across from each other in a booth at Fallston Seafood, eating salad and waiting for broiled crab cakes – our usual order. We’d already covered family, and Sarah, who writes the Noontimes, had updated me on the school...
Memory Grooves
“When I told the book club that I was going back to work, they hit the roof,” Mother said as her hands leaped into the air. “Then one-by-one, the women all went back to work. It was the best thing I ever did. I would have wasted those years.” Today is my mother’s...
Quiet Zones
Here at Vanaprastha, things are pretty quiet – literally. Vehicles traversing the mountain road and planes flying at high altitude interrupt nature’s symphony only briefly. Around our house, the geothermal HVAC system and modern appliances emit inaudible hums. Last...