Pushing the reset button, having an opportunity to change course, provides a feeling of lightness. There is an opportunity as we approach New Year’s Eve, as we turn the page on the year 2018, to think about how we can alter our lives, perhaps in a small but significant way, ever so slightly, in what ...Continue Reading

“Norman it’s the loons. Listen they are welcoming us back.” After reading H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald’s eloquent book about training a goshawk when she is mourning the death of her father, and then J.A. Baker’s beautifully written book The Peregrine, I have become fascinated by raptors, wanting to learn more about their characteristics, ...Continue Reading

As Thanksgiving approaches, I begin to prepare the menu for our family gathering. A traditional turkey, squash, potatoes and cranberry sauce, of course. Yet, although I am a north country girl through and through, I have always loved the cultural and food heritage of the south ...Continue Reading

Miraculously, after the heat and humidity that seemed to hang endlessly in the air, the temperature dropped last weekend. Autumn, signaling she is just in the wings. Dinner was moved from the porch into the dining room and the women were wrapped in shawls. The clothing a harbinger of the shift in seasons. It isn’t … Continue reading "Back to School"

Do you believe in the magical power of fairies? When the dew is stretched like a tarp across the landscape and sparkles in dawn’s muted light do you think fairies could be living just under the toadstools in the forest woodlands? I must admit I hadn’t thought about fairies recently, although I do keep Grimm’s … Continue reading "Constructing a Fairy House"

On a recent visit to the Laconia Public Library I noticed a collection of Donald Hall’s books on the counter. He was a poet and in June 2006 appointed the 14th Poet Laureate of the United States. His work primarily focused around the bucolic life he could enjoy residing in New Hampshire. Since 1975, and … Continue reading "Restful New Hampshire"

Although I’m not an avid sports fan, one who assiduously follows teams, I do, in my own way, keep track of the Boston Red Sox, and self-identify as a citizen of Red Sox Nation. A friend invites me to Yankee Stadium at least once during the season and I always try and join him when … Continue reading "“Take me out to the ball game …”"

Louisiana Bendolph stood quietly just outside the eighty-first street entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday morning waiting for the Museum to open. A few of us were there to spend the day participating in a Studio Workshop entitled, “Design and Construction: A Quilting Workshop.” It was suggested we bring fabric and those … Continue reading "“What if your baby is cold?”"

Roy, the husband in Tayari Jones’ novel, American Marriage, meets his real father for the first time when they are incarcerated in the same Louisiana prison. Through her story Jones weaves together insights into the relationships and emotions that define family and marriage, love and passion. “Home isn’t where you land; home is where you … Continue reading "From a Father to a Daughter"

There is nothing as calming as imagining the sound of gentle waves lapping up against the beach or splashing over the rocks that form the bed of a winding river. These peaceful water sounds have been captured and can be found in podcasts and on CDs for deep sleep music, meditation, and relaxation. In the … Continue reading "On the water"

Spring Renewal Salmon colored geraniums, magenta petunia’s, yellow forsythia, red roses, black-eyed Susan’s, lavender lilacs, white begonias and pink cherry blossoms. It’s been a spring defined by fog so it’s time to conjure up the colors that will soon define the landscape. We cannot, of course, leave out the birds. The stately red cardinals, the … Continue reading "Spring Renewal"

Couples celebrate Valentine’s Day in February. Wedding and anniversaries are marked with grand affairs. Birthdays, particularly the significant ones ending in a zero or a five, often involve elaborate and festive gatherings. Mothers are saluted in May on Mother’s Day, followed by Father’s Day in June. Now we have Sibling’s Day on April 10th and, … Continue reading "Best Friends"

When Hubert de Givenchy, the French couturier died early in March, one immediately thought about the elegant women he dressed including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly and perhaps most notably, Audrey Hepburn. Those of us who lived through the 60’s can recall the now iconic image of Ms. Hepburn wearing Givenchy in her role as … Continue reading "Sixties Style"

Usually by mid-March there are signs that spring is pushing through the earth in Central Park. This year the trees are bare and sway and blow in the blustery winds and storms that have been traveling up the coast or sweeping across the country on an almost weekly schedule. Now what I think about are … Continue reading "Time Travel"

… It’s time for spring! According to the calendar the official date is Tuesday, 20 March so we have about twelve days of winter remaining. That’s two weekends and lots of opportunity for mischief: snow, rain, sleet, blustery wind and the sort of fickle weather that defines the season when the landscape begins to come … Continue reading "We’re tired of winter’s mischief …"

The Barking Dog is a luncheonette just at the corner of the block where I live. A friendly neighborhood spot where one can find comfort food (burgers, mac n’ cheese, hot roast beef sandwiches) and brunch, with swell pancakes and bacon and eggs on Saturday and Sunday. It’s been there for decades, and although the … Continue reading "Couple of chicks sitting around …"

I could hear the roof. It was still raining. … William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury It is difficult to identify the one American writer I most admire. When William Faulkner is at the top of the list other authors immediately spring to mind: James Baldwin, Willa Cather, Herman Melville. Then the list grows … Continue reading "Southern style"

As you know I am passionate about books. They line my bookshelves, stand in organized stacks under the table in the living room and, as much as I attempt to be disciplined, the books continue to multiply. It isn’t just reading the books that interests me, it is the book as a beautifully designed object … Continue reading "Full Tilt"

One of the drives I enjoy is along Route 107 from Laconia through Gilmanton to Northwood. The visa at the top of Frisky Hill, across the Belknap Mountain Range, is stunning throughout every season. A few weeks ago, traveling this road after a winter storm, the sun reflected off the thin layer of ice that … Continue reading "It’s freezing …"

Archive