In October, Mr C and I drove out east to celebrate his birthday and visit his sister, who lives in DC. We angled down through West Virginia on the way there, passing through the New River Valley. The New River flows north into the Potomac. The New is said to be one of the oldest…
An Eye To Beauty
As Chicago fills up with nondescript buildings, the soul is ever more appreciative on encountering those exceptional structures of any age that were built with an eye to beauty. One such is the Nickerson Mansion, begun in 1879 and completed in 1881. The house embodies the ample means of its original owners, Samuel and Matilda…
Getting started on “The Firmament”
My desire to stitch a canvas coincided nicely with my younger sister’s birthday. We both liked this design, so I ordered it and am making “The Firmament” for her. The design is one of six in Alex Beattie’s “Creation” series. They are available from Ehrman Tapestries. Getting started was exciting and daunting. I have never…
A Florida Interlude
The gin my sister’s friend had left behind was like a salve, a blessing we needed given the trouble we faced. Each evening I was there, we pulled it out, wondered just what was in it, and marveled that the departed Petra had not drunk more of it before she left. Then we concocted refreshing…
The Big Sort
Is it so terrible, having to look at all my belongings? My office has no closet, so several years ago I rented a small storage closet down the hall. Gradually I filled it up with stuff that I had no place for and didn’t want to see. Last month the building informed me of its…
Girl Gone
At the Field Museum, the cast of a huge dinosaur skeleton dubbed “Maximo” has been assembled in the Great Hall. Maximo has garnered considerable press, grabbing the spotlight once trained on the Field’s unique Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, “Sue” (named after Susan Hendrickson, the discoverer). Since Max’s arrival, Sue has been rudely exiled from the Great…
At the tip of the question mark
The jetty curls out into the Lake in the shape of a question mark. One of our friends insisted on walking out to the very tip. It was a lovely day, and the Lake was placid, not crashing against and washing over the breakwater, as I have seen it do. So out we strolled, joining…
A human condition
What to do? I look back at my blog, and at all my other work, and marvel at how it has ground to a halt, despite my continuing to busy myself with it every day. It is a terrible feeling, this loss of momentum, and more essentially the loss of joy that my work gives…
Understory
Spring has been late this year, yet there is something to be said for all the suspense Personally, I like the look of the woods in the very early spring, before much of anything has come out. Anything flimsy or light-weight has been blown away, leaving behind what is settled and essential. The heavy mat…
Turning the page on a chapter of life
A year after receiving my B.A., I broke up with the guy I had been in love with in college. We each moved on afterward. He married and had a family and a good career. I knew he had been ill in recent years, with a difficult-to-identify illness. About a month ago, his wife called…
