In preparation for Thanksgiving, I spent all day Wednesday doing a “level 3” cleaning (as my brother-in-law would say)…scrubbing baseboards, washing windows, dusting ceiling fans. I was not inconvenienced by any of this — it was all part of the holiday plan. In the days that followed, however, I have grown very inconvenienced by the Continue reading

It used to take me exactly three minutes to walk that big hill in my neighborhood. That big hill, my nemesis, would take me three minutes exactly — no more, no less. No matter how fast I walked, how heavy I breathed, how hard I pumped my arms, I simply couldn’t beat the time. And Continue reading

Standing at the top of the hill, I could see a blanket of fog lying low in the hills this morning. The tops of the trees in their brilliant colors stood above the fog — reds, oranges and yellows, taller than this gauzy blanket of haze.  As I walked down the hill, I was breathless Continue reading

I walk in my neighborhood as many days a week as I can. It’s a great neighborhood for it; flat road, a lot of little hills, and a two major ones make for a very good workout. Those hills are my nemesis. I have to head toward them and tackle them first, or I will Continue reading

There’s a small mirror I keep on the ledge in the bathroom. I use it to see the back of my head when I’m blow-drying my hair (I’m hearing strains of Carly Simon in the background…). But because of the location of the mirror, it always gets a big dose of hair spray, perfume or Continue reading