Carousel Although merry-go-rounds or carousels are usually found at amusement parks and state fairs,  the oldest platform carousel in the country,  Flying Horses,  is actually a permanent fixture in the charming town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard where we’ve spent many idyllic summer vacations.  (See Menemsha Sunset  and Wishing for Rain on the Vineyard) When… Read More

Male Cornea HIM,  upstairs:  “Do we have Alka Seltzer Plus?” ME,   downstairs:  “Yes,  it’s in the cabinet.” HIM,  upstairs:  “Where? ME,  downstairs:  “It’s in the cabinet in the white bin.” HIM,  upstairs:  “Where?” ME,  downstairs:  “It’s in the cabinet in the white bin on the left.” HIM,  upstairs:   “Where?” ME,  downstairs getting hot… Read More

Mr Bucco and the Ginger cat My parents’ first house was on a shady street in the Bronx bought after WW II on the GI bill.  My dad set up his medical practice on the first floor and we lived on the floor above.  (See also Fluffy, or How I Got My Dog,   Magnolia, The Story… Read More

Piano Man – Remembering Herb My memories of that summer between college and grad school,  when I took a camp job with my friend Liz,  are bittersweet. Liz and I were co-counselors for a bunk of kids,  and I had also signed on as drama counselor.   When we arrived at camp I was introduced to… Read More

Booktalker – Remembering Sandra During my working life I put up with a lot of teasing about whether I fit the stereotype of a librarian.   If it meant a stern old lady with her hair in a bun and her finger on her lips,   it wasn’t me.   And it surely wasn’t Sandra… Read More

The Camper-Waitress Goes to the Fair The summer my friend Stephanie and I were too old to be a campers but not old enough to be counselors,   we worked as camper-waitresses at a children’s camp in the Connecticut foothills.   Stephanie and I went on to become life-long friends,  but a friendship cut too… Read More

Pickled! For years I worked on my tennis game but I seemed to have plateaued somewhere between advanced beginner and intermediate.    I blame my parents of course for my lack of prowess as they apparently valued piano over tennis lessons for their kids.  (And by the way after all that money spent,  and those… Read More

My Boss Dolly Dolly and Me at the DMV I was a fairly new school librarian when I got a position at the newly opened Harry S Truman HS in the Bronx.   We were a library staff of three – Dorothy was head librarian,  and Ann and I were the young newbies –  but… Read More

Hermine & Naftali,  Paris 1939 Tracing our Roots I’ve written about a family trip we made years ago tracing my roots to Charleston,  South Carolina where my father was stationed during the war and where I was born.  (See Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home) More recently we traced my husband’s roots to the German city of… Read More

44 Curzon Street Our son Noah was 7 when we took him to London for the first time.   For our stay I  booked what was called a serviced flat at 44 Curzon Street in a lovely Mayfair neighborhood near Green Park. We arrived late in the evening with a very sleepy kid in tow,  and… Read More