I’ve been In The Home now for over 25 years. I am doing well. I’ve always done well in a circumstance of my choosing. Being shoehorned,...

Every year at Christmas, I purchase a special treat for myself, a gift that celebrates sentiment and practicality. This past year, I...

It is not easy for the children of this writer to permit her the private space that she demands for her creativity. They are granted glimpses into this special world that she builds for the purpose of her art, but the views are merely glimpses. They are not the embraces of her focused concentration that have belonged to each of them since birth. My adult son once remarked in utter amazement that I treat him and his sister “as equals.” Equal, yes. The same, no. They are indivi

With the passing away of our first beagle, Bonnie, just after New Year’s Day 2002, Bootsie, the younger male beagle, became downright...

Dear Husband will undoubtedly have a difficult time posting this essay because it sings of him, my unsung hero. To spare his embarrassment I will not wax poetic about him (that feat has been done elsewhere) and I will not belabor a point that can be and should be brief. I will state my heart case in a list. Dear Husband knows how much I love to make lists. The Honey-Does List: 1. He reminds me not to be distracted by barking dogs and whining cats of the human variety. 2. He t

The Writer Speaks: Discipline The discipline of a writer is not a constant effort. It is more like an energy field that has ebbs and flows, and each ebb is a crucial part of the flow. One thing is certain: creativity cannot be forced. My day begins with a set routine which is, of course, a source of stability, a means of marking time that is not accounted for by a supervisor, company, deadline, series of conference calls, meetings, appointments that must be met (or perhaps so

Some things I don’t plan; they just happen. One thing leads to another which leads to another, and before I know it, I am in the midst of a situation. Early last summer, I was informed by a friend in the United Kingdom that the kingdom may be far less united after the Scottish Referendum in September. I had grave doubts that the Scots would really make the break. I opined that the Scots enjoy a good fight but would likely not vote overwhelmingly for separation from England. A

Happy New Year 2015! I am a huge fan of the films made by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. And I choose which film to watch based upon not the dance sequence but the song. Tonight I plan to watch “The Way You Look Tonight.” The film happens to be “ Swing Time .” And the irony of the setting for the song is beyond classic. It set new standards for comedy, acting, romance, music, and that feeling of swoon that comes with being in love. Romantic, technically brilliant and innova

Christmas comes but once a year and yet the Christmas spirit can endure throughout the year, given the proper attitude and the right books! There are some words that only the heart can express. Those words must be chosen with care, by the writer and by the reader! This holiday season offers us a time to look ahead and to look back, hopefully and happily, at some gifts from writers of yore. The fables of Jean de La Fontaine are little chef d’oeuvres of charm, humor, wisdom, co

This past summer I was reading a pamphlet-like book, Reminiscences of Anton Chekhov (which I highly recommend). There was no date for the...

December 2014 We try to get along. I believe, however, that the tension of a push-pull chemistry is necessary for maximum quality output!...

I’ve not read the novel of that name by Charles Dickens. In fact, I’ve read very little by Dickens. When you are going through hard...

I am recalling an online review of the new translation of Dr. Zhivago. The reviewer had seen the 1965 film five times and thus thought...

J'étais Mademoiselle Tanisse. I was Miss Tanis. The classroom was small, but not too small for a large dark, rectangular, wooden table...

By using the word, young, in this title, I do not mean of a less mature chronological age. I mean “novice” or “beginning.” In that sense,...

One morning at breakfast, Dear Husband read to me a quote from Charles Schulz : “Sometimes I lay awake at night and ask, ‘What have I...

Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1771. He was crippled with polio as a boy and, as a result, he had a permanent limp. Also as a...

Summertime and the raccoons are coming! They are coming into my detached garage, the nighttime abode for my two cats. The other morning, I went out to see the felines in the garage. I noticed that the water bowl was filled with mud and the pale yellow sheet that covers the Cat Table (under which resides The Cat Bed) was covered with dried mud and rather long claw prints. Annabella, the green-eyed cat, was so jealous! This black Burmese cat walked quickly (scampered) into the

We live in troubled times. Some of these troubles have been self-produced, others manufactured by people willing to feed off of the fears...

I have attempted several times to read the first volume of seven of À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), the novel by Marcel Proust. Even as I type the title, I feel overwhelmed. The first volume is Du côté de chez Swann, or Swann’s Way. I read about fifteen pages of it one summer; tried another summer to go past those same fifteen pages; and then a third attempt was even less successful. I do not recall if the final try was in the summer, or if I made it p