When running away is not an option
I suppose I could don a disguise and run off to the nearest wine-bar and sip cocktails while my husband tried to find me to make dinner. But then I’d likely overdo it and end up being driven home by a well-meaning stranger who would need to be fed, too…
I also take advantage of every opportunity to go outside
I don’t know about the rest of the seventyish population, but I have been staying indoors a lot of the day, for a lot of the days and weeks and months this past year. It is especially noticeable in winter, as right now, for instance, I couldn’t go out without…
My mother, Milly, died a few months ago. Granted, things were none too satisfactory in the last two of the 95 years that she lived. But, overall, for a good part of her older life, Milly was satisfied with her life. When I would ask her if she was happy…
Third part of the series I rescued from the Medium archives
continued from September 19, 2017
My last post was just before my birthday. On June 30, right after my trip to Pemaquid, I learned that my husband’s twin brother had been in a horrific automobile accident that was to prove fatal. This is the reason for my abandonment of this writing project. I don’t want…
Who knows how it will appear in the coming days
You used to be able to count on the seasons, if not the weather from day to day. With the rapidly changing news about the planet’s climate, I’m not sure how fall will go this year. But I’m determined to enjoy what I get, today clouds and humidity, tomorrow sun…
My Daily Practice Series — rescued from the Medium archives
June 2, 2017- My Piano
I have an antique seven-foot Steinway grand piano which I’ve carted around from home to home since about 1973. It was built in 1882. My husband bought it for me for $1200 soon after we were married, and we’ve put a few thousand dollars into it over the years. But…
Even though my Daily Practice Series has been sent to the Medium archives, I keep playing
In 2016, when I first started writing on Medium, I began a series about my experience of beginning a daily piano practice, its value to the rest of my life, and what I hoped would be valuable advice for others hoping to develop a deep practice in any area of…
Lots of people in our neighborhood in the 1950s were minimalists by necessity.
The little house on Brook Lane
Our original home was a depression house built in 1938, two small rooms and an outhouse outside. When my parents bought it in 1948, it was already ten years old. It was located in a rural area…
I’ve got some different rules for my own house.
My dear mother, my closest friend, died in July. Our father died seven years earlier. Finally, this summer, my sister and brother and I spent four long weekends cleaning out the house where we grew up. I am trying to describe how it feels to go from an aging, decrepit…
Why we should see other people in a rainbow of colors
Splitting, binary thinking, black and white thinking, all or nothing thinking. These words all refer to the tendency to think in either/or terms, and it is one of the ways we are distancing ourselves from each other. My sister is a good person but I am a bad person. Those…
