Standing In The Shadows

On Hurricane Island

Ellen Meeropol dreamt up a horror. She took a charged anniversary, September 11th, a remote island in Maine, and an assortment of characters whose agendas are at odds (at the most polite best), but she doesn’t go for “at best” in her second novel, On Hurricane Island,...

One Word

The stirrings of January and it’s apparently the year of the non-resolution, by which I mean people seem to be in exploration of the notion that we are enough as we are or less and more are ways to beat up on ourselves (read more about this on Abigail Rose...

Ending a Year

Contemplative in front of the Parthenon in Nashville or just wondering why Nashville built one. Although I’ve begun to think—fleetingly, in momentary snatches of ideas akin to sketches not the whole picture—about New Year’s Resolutions,...

Inaugural Post

This is that most awkward of blog entries: the inaugural post, in which (channeling Pooh) the author tries to introduce herself and give the reader some idea what the story is. Or perhaps, what my story is. Well, here it is. I wanted to start a blog about these...

I'll Be Twist(ing)

I don't go out much at night (mainly because my younger kids are six and nearly fifteen months). Tonight, though, I'll be at the Northampton Center for the Arts for the Twist Fair, where sixty crafty vendors will be sharing their wares (some wears, I'm...

Access/Condoms

Sometimes, people talk about the days before abortion, when condoms were unavailable for purchase by women (read, unmarried women). Many forms of contraceptives that were once unavailable are now, at least in theory, available. If you've been through adolescence...

How To…

On wintry mornings, I like to walk through my kids’ elementary school building in order to get from the kindergarten—where I drop Remy and his lunch—to the main entrance at the opposite end of the building before heading back for the cold walk home....

Mother's Day II

Just over a year ago, we adopted a baby. Already parents to three children, our family grew in a new way: we became an adoptive family. As Mother’s Day approaches, the holiday raises new questions, ones that didn’t apply before Saskia arrived.This is not a...

Thoughts about Pottery

Yesterday evening, I strolled (by myself, itself a rare treat in the dinner/bedtime zone) downtown to see the Mark Shapiro, Maya Machlin, Michael McCarthy, Daniel Garretston; The Apprentice System: Stonepool Pottery show at the Artisan Gallery. I'd been speaking...

Bristol's Cover

This past week, newly-minted high school graduate Bristol Palin landed the cover of People Magazine, in red robes and baby Tripp. Not surprisingly, media coverage of the cover story ensued. From CNN to Huffington Post, the objective was to articulate what message...

Words

Yesterday afternoon, in the space of maybe five minutes, I was served with two reminders both of how loaded words can be and how difficult it is to navigate our lives without letting our assumptions—and our experiences—unintentionally collide in hurtful...

June 30th

Spend any time involved in the world of nonprofits and you know a deadline's looming. June 30th marks the end of the fiscal year for many nonprofit organizations. And this year's a particular nail biter, given what my eldest son refers to as "these tough...

Fragility/Durability*

This spring, when all those first shoots were coming up—snowdrops, the spears before crocus or daffodil set to bloom, furled leaves curled, practically fetal—I kept thinking again and again how impossibly tender and small and delicate the green seemed. How...

Passing

The spectacle that was Michael Jackson’s death continued this week. There were tributes to his contributions of music, movement, and style. Remembrance of Jackson-related bizarre—masks, animals, amusement park home—and Jackson-related...

Spreading the Word

Recently, I've been thinking about how much I admire artists and writers whose work lives go beyond creating their own work to actively championing community–learning envirornments, supportive networks, forums for bringing their passion for writing or...

The Contours of Rocks

Last night, I went to hear my old friend, Doug Anderson, read from his new book, a memoir entitled, Keep Your Head Down, in which he chronicles life before, through, and after Vietnam. Doug's a great storyteller and the book somehow manages to do what many who...

Cooking with Lulu

Spend time with any smattering of young kids and you’ll find at least one with a strong preference for beige food. You know the kid; s/he will eat bread (in many forms). To that, add cereal or potatoes, applesauce, oatmeal, crackers… Vegetables? Not so...

(Re)Purpose

Recycling, it's kind of old hat by now, huh? I am loving this word–kind of new to me–repurpose. Why do I like it? I love the notion that things have more than one purpose; I love the intentionality of the word, and I love the sense of action. Cycles...

Seventeen Syllables

I am terrible with numbers.I live with a dear husband who thinks in math. He understands spaces. He reads maps. He’s quite logical. While I wander—sometimes blithely and pretty much always blindly—through the world, he navigates. The kids (at least...

Old Friends

Old friendsSat on their park benchLike bookendsOld friendsMemory brushes the same years–Simon and Garfunkel songI am through and through a connector. By definition, I guess that means I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends. If there were a lucrative...

Blueberries, August

Saskia is eighteen months today. One-and-a-half, she’s every bit the age, with her sturdy, sometimes heavy steps suddenly transforming into a run at will and her vocabulary increasing, her pronunciation becoming more clear and agile and her single word...