One of the many charming aspects of living in an old house is that you are never truly alone.

Never alone
Oh sure, I might be the only HUMAN at home, the dogs outside and the cat ignoring me, but I have the sense that I am never really without companions. Once or twice a […]

‘Tis June — the season when wedding invitations flourish and everyone gets busy pledging forever, in sickness, and ’til death do us part.

Since there is nothing young married folk love more than unsolicited advice (unless it is the question that pops up within minutes of the ceremony: “So when are you two going to have […]

I knew that fatherhood had irreversibly changed him when Mr. Need for Speed drove at turtle’s pace hunched over the steering wheel, eyes scanning the horizon for any real or perceived danger to our newborn baby on his maiden voyage from hospital to home.
A motocross racer whose favorite motto was “it’s not the speed […]

You just never think it will happen to you. Then, one day you are caught. Transfixed. A deer in the headlights. You stare in horror as comprehension (and a wrinkle) slowly dawns. You are aging.
If there is anything to be learned from growing older it is that we really do remain young at heart […]

I think what keeps you young is learning a little something new about yourself as you age. I, for example, have discovered my inner four-year-old (boy). I am a construction junkie.

Behemoth of a building

I came by this knowledge quite by accident. For many years now I have begun many workdays staring at the side […]

Nowadays, I not only take my calculator along on grocery shopping trips (the better to ascertain if we can or cannot afford to eat again this week), but I probably should take a magnifying glass along too.
I don’t mean to alarm anyone unnecessarily, but our food appears to be shrinking. Granted, most would agree […]

First, I would like to thank the editor of this fine publication for my latest existential crisis. They cooked up that heartwarming “Thanks, Mom!” contest last week. I really thought I had that one in the bag.
I like to think I’m a pretty great mom. I’m there every day before school, after school, heck […]

I want to be physically fit. I really do. It’s just that it takes so much time. And effort. And commitment.
There is only so much time in the day, after all, and I have to pencil in parenting, cooking, cleaning, laundry, running errands and the like.
That barely leaves any time at all to […]

I suspect that civilization, as a whole, took a nosedive the very moment people started trying to reason with children.
Children are, by nature, unreasonable. Children are basically egos with lungs and legs.
Nonetheless, modern parents seem to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to coax, cajole and downright beg their progeny to “please, for […]

The moment you have a baby, people who are “experts” in the care and handling of infants become utterly convinced that if not taught properly how to hold your child you will, in fact, drop it.
Sane, rational adults will caution you to “Watch his head!,” as if only their careful tutelage is what prevents […]