Traveling Light For years before leaving on a trip I’d make a list of what to pack:  6 prs underwear,  6 prs stockings/sox,  nightgown and bathrobe,  2 prs shoes,   1 skirt,  1 pr pants,  at least 4 tops,  1 sweater,  rainwear,  jacket or coat,  umbrella,  toiletries,  camera and film,  passport,   plane tix,  … Read More

Menemsha Sunset Like most of us I’m sure,  the one thing I can’t leave home without is my cell phone.   If I forget mine,  I rush back to get it, and can’t imagine how we lived without them, or their precursors our car phones.   So here’s a car phone story,   but first let… Read More

The Thin Green Line Although it can be time-consuming and a hassle,  I conscientiously recycle and I try to support organizations and legislation that advocate for environmental action to fight pollution and clean up the planet. I’ve been haunted by images of polar bears on melting ice caps;   and dead whales washing up on… Read More

Fluffy and the Alligator Shoes The house I grew up in had many lovely architectural features – a fireplace,  a lovely stairwell,  and a beautiful oval stained glass window that was in my mother’s closet. I loved sitting in that closet.  It was a cozy and private place for a child to play,  and the light… Read More

Playing with Fire As a child I spent summers with my family at my grandmother’s small Catskills hotel.  (See My Game Mother,  My Heart Remembers My Grandmother’s Hotel , The Troubadour,  Hotel Kittens, The Cat and the Forshpeiz and Our Special Guests) One summer a family with a son about my age –  we both must have… Read More

ASPCA “The cancer has spread.”.  said the vet,  “It’s time to put her down if you don’t want the cat to suffer.”  So broken-hearted,  we said goodbye to our beloved Lucy Gray. Taking a walk a few days later we found ourselves in front of the ASPCA.  We looked at each other and without a… Read More

Turkey and Trimmings with Flu Shot My father’s been gone 20 years but lately I think about him more and more.  (See Saying Farewell to a Special Guy,   My Dad and the Word Processor) His birthday was November 26  and we’d  always celebrate it on Thanksgiving at my folks’ house,  with my aunts,  uncles… Read More

My Love Affair with James Joyce Playwright Israel Horovitz was caught by several women who said  “Me too.”,  and so was Prairie Home Companion creator Garrison Keillor;   filmmaker Woody Allen’s private life has been far from exemplary;   abstractionist Pablo Picasso and novelist Philip Roth were notorious womanizers;   the 17th century painter Caravaggio… Read More

I got shot! Greeting du jour –  “Got your shots?” RetroFlash  / 6 Words – Dana Susan Lehrman Read More

My Dad and the Word Processor My dad was knowledgeable and proficient in so many areas,   we thought of him as a Renaissance man.  (See Saying Farewell to a Special Guy,   Six Pack) In fact during the last few decades of his life he was even writing his memoirs,  not with an eye to publication… Read More