For each of us, there comes a time to let go. You will know when that time has come. When you have done all that you can do, it is time to detach. Deal with your feelings. Face your fears about losing control. Gain control of yourself and your responsibilities. Free others to be who…
I have come to this space a few times—once when I was in the sanctuary of the library, surreptitiously sipping tea from my thermos because food and drink are “not allowed at this time.” Just say what you mean, I thought, bristling at the signs placed here and there throughout the building. If it’s the…
When I opened the blinds this morning, I gasped. Nature does that sometimes with the brilliant eastern sky. The wonder doesn’t last long, so it’s worth pausing to appreciate, and, as Mary Oliver told us in her poem, “Instructions for Life,” “Pay attention. Be Astonished. Tell about it.” It’s the morning after Halloween, and we…
One morning this week, I sat in a doctor’s office and, at the end of the consult, we shared scoliosis surgery stories. Mine, a half-century ago, that decimated my senior year, with weeks of traction, months of being completely bedridden, and more than half a year spent in a full body cast; hers, when she…
Following the intensity of summer, and before the cold, dark days of winter, autumn tiptoes in, bringing with her a palette with shades of orange, umber, and gold to dress deciduous tree leaves in for one last glorious show before they let go and fall into a crispy blanket on the ground. I love that…
I fill one more yellow bowl with ripe tomatoes (you know, one of those big old Tupperware ones that everyone has). I’ve roasted batch after batch with garlic and aromatic herbs, tucking them away in the upright freezer downstairs. It’s satisfyingly full for this time of year, with beets, borscht, carrots, beans and tomatoes in…