More on Money

The best things in life are free But you can keep them for the birds and bees Now give me money That’s what I want “Money” was originally written and recorded for Motown records, but I only remember hearing The Beatles’ version released in 1963. It seemed an...

Treasure or Trash

Paulownia, also known as the Royal Paulownia, Princess or Empress Tree, looks like vegetation out of a science fiction novel. A deciduous tree, the Pawlownia grows quickly, from eight to twenty feet in one year, and sports large, heart-shaped leaves in opposite pairs...

The day the Lord made

It was mid-afternoon at the UVA Medical Center when I checked in with the receptionist. She asked, “Name?” I answered and handed her my appointment confirmation. The phone rang, and she picked up saying, “Please hold,” then asked me, “Date of birth?” I replied, and...

Keep Going

Remember the story about the little girl who played the piano at a recital and kept going despite obstacles and mistakes? My turn – and what an adventure! Last week my friend Sarah stayed with us for a few days. We had a grand time. The first evening, Keith treated us...

Mothers

As I drove south on 29 to visit my mother last weekend, I thought about Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments, a memoir about the author’s relationship with her mother. Though younger than my mother, Gornick also grew up during the Depression and War years and was a...