by Carole Duff | May 27, 2013 | Writing and Reading |
The night after the writer John Gregory Dunne died on December 30, 2003, his wife Joan Didion “needed to be alone so that he could come back.” “This was the beginning of my year of magical thinking,” she wrote a few years later. The Year of Magical...
by Carole Duff | May 20, 2013 | Faith, Family, Nature, Writing and Reading |
My grandparents, both maternal and paternal, lived in Hodgdon, Aroostook County in Northern Maine where folks farmed 6-days a week and attended the East Hodgdon Bible Church. On Sundays, it was essential chores only, and the women cooked in advance – we ate leftovers...
by Carole Duff | May 8, 2013 | Faith, Writing and Reading |
Several years ago, my mother gave me a t-shirt with a saying on it: When my gut says, “No,” my mouth says, “Sure, I’d be glad to.” Mother’s observation proved more and less useful: more because upon occasion I did have two minds, one thinking and the other speaking,...
by Carole Duff | Apr 22, 2013 | Family, Nature, Writing and Reading |
Last week, I brought home 5 flats of vinca major, a couple of sweet-scented viburnum shrubs, a butterfly bush, an assortment of herbs – mint, oregano, rosemary, thymes and sage – and bags of soil prep. Keith helped with the heavy lifting – two truckloads – and...
by Carole Duff | Apr 8, 2013 | Writing and Reading |
“The breadth is thought provoking, intriguing, searching, promising.” “The storyteller’s voice worked. The writer’s voice didn’t work.” “I didn’t like the voices – they got in my way.” “I really liked the voices – it’s an inner theater.” “The first part was a struggle...
by Carole Duff | Apr 1, 2013 | Family, Writing and Reading |
“Why Do Fools Fall in Love” – the song asked those who do. “What Kind of Fool Am I” – posed the question for one who did not. What kind of fool am I who falls in love with the perfect family myth? Baby Boomers like me grew up watching Leave it the Beaver, Father Knows...
