I had a good idea…to open up this page a bit, I thought to bring in friends (or people I wish were friends) that I regard as kindred spirits. I love the word kindred… it comes from Old English kinrædan, having to…
So yesterday I celebrated my ninety-first turn around the—what orb is it, moon? sun? gosh I forget…is that a sign of old age? Very like… It was a day-and-a-half. Began with my husband’s poem—oh, what a treat, having your very…
Bill had just made his incomparable Scrambled Eggs with Cheese…I was sitting at my place listening to chatter about Marilyn Monroe and Louis Calhern in The Asphalt Jungle (remember my husband is a film historian)…Bill was telling the table (three…
I began writing these notes perched beside Bill in our bedroom on Amtrak’s Empire Builder--San Francisco to Chicago–just having rolled out of Havre, Montana. To explain: granddaughter (son David’s) Kate was graduating from Columbia University’s School of Social Work with…
Dear Readers, I posted this in spring of 2025 … thinking about Easter. Here I am thinking of it again, a cake for all celebrations … Bake it and you’ll agree! As a matter of fact, it’s the ideal cake…
There is an extraordinary rose bush bordering a garden in our neighborhood—I pass it every time we go out—that drives me crazy. It is in tree form—one shoulder-high stalk exploding in a voluptuous armload of buttery-gold-apricot roses as ripe as…
Cleaning up my study (yes, really and truly) I opened a notebook I’ve kept for ages, but haven’t opened for ages. There tucked in front was a treasured clipping from forty-four years ago. Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige began in Negro…
Here’s a brilliant insight I just learned, simple, direct, pain-lightening. I’ll begin with the context: I am the most fortunate woman on the planet. I have a heavenly husband who loves and sustains me. I have a wealth of children,…
Bill at 96 and Michael Connelly Last Monday (sixth of April) we celebrated a glorious landmark in the family: my darling husband’s NINETY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY! Wowzer. As Bill mentioned a few times (rather in awe), that means he has lived ninety-six…
When we have a friend coming for lunch, that morning Bill will sweetly inquire, “Will you be making those great sandwiches I hope?” I will. Make panini! Some years ago—maybe twenty—on the radio I heard an interview with Candace Bergen…Talking…