12 Oct, 2018

The Rainy Day File

2021-01-03T17:25:35-06:00October 12th, 2018|Tags: , |

One evening last summer, my brother and I lingered by the camp fire after the rest of the family had gone to bed. As the flames died down, we looked [...]

3 Aug, 2018

Honoring Our Roots

2021-01-03T17:25:42-06:00August 3rd, 2018|Tags: |

At our grandparents' grave - my sister, my brother and I Summer is the time of family reunions. Incidentally, just before my hip surgery, we had a family [...]

1 Feb, 2018

31 Happy Things

2021-09-27T18:29:31-05:00February 1st, 2018|Tags: , , , |

Yours truly visiting the Ice Palace in St. Paul, MN Sunday, January 28, 2018 Inspired by a prompt in the current winter issue of Bella Grace, I kept [...]

7 Dec, 2017

Dead People’s Stuff

2021-01-03T17:26:01-06:00December 7th, 2017|Tags: |

With my brother-in-law's recent death, the topic of dealing with all the things the deceased leave behind has become center stage again for my husband and me. Incidentally, just prior [...]

11 Sep, 2017

Remembering 9/11

2021-01-03T17:26:06-06:00September 11th, 2017|Tags: |

It's been my custom to commemorate 9/11 by taking my Portraits 9/11/01 off the shelf and opening it at random to read some of the obituaries the New York Times so admirably [...]

12 Jan, 2017

Sitting in the Sun

2021-01-03T17:26:19-06:00January 12th, 2017|Tags: |

I have a new favorite winter pastime: Sitting in the sun. I've discovered that from about 9:15 in the morning until about 10 o'clock the sun, when it is out, [...]

7 Dec, 2016

Artful Blogging Giveaway

2021-01-03T17:26:19-06:00December 7th, 2016|Tags: |

Today is St. Nikolaus, a day I remember fondly from my childhood (see my essay Giving Up Christmas in Tablet, which, incidentally, is an excerpt from my book Jumping Over Shadows.) [...]

29 Sep, 2016

Visiting My Old Life

2021-01-03T17:26:25-06:00September 29th, 2016|Tags: , |

Yesterday morning I had occasion to walk around the downtown Chicago neighborhood of Streeterville where I used to work eight years ago. It's always interesting to see how much it [...]

1 Sep, 2016

August Was…

2021-01-03T17:26:27-06:00September 1st, 2016|Tags: , |

{August Break 8/31: August was...} ...long! And not as peaceful as this photo, taken from the Rogers Park beach pier on the northside of Chicago. But there were peaceful moments, [...]

19 Aug, 2016

5 Years Ago

2021-01-03T17:26:27-06:00August 19th, 2016|Tags: , |

Canyonlands National Park, Utah {August Break 8/18: 5 Years Ago} Five years ago I was taking a road trip with my family: five weeks, Chicago to California and back. It [...]

14 Mar, 2016

When a Friend Dies

2021-01-03T17:26:47-06:00March 14th, 2016|Tags: , |

Today I found out by happenstance, via Facebook, that a friend of mine passed away. We weren't close friends or I would have known that her battle with cancer had [...]

21 Jan, 2016

Life without my Laptop

2021-01-03T17:26:49-06:00January 21st, 2016|Tags: |

My laptop died a week ago. It was six years old, and I can't really blame the thing. It held up pretty well being logged around the world. Nevertheless, I have [...]

11 Sep, 2015

Remembering 9/11

2021-01-03T17:27:12-06:00September 11th, 2015|Tags: |

Every year, to commemorate 9/11, I take my Portraits 9/11/01 off the shelf and open it at random to read some of the obituaries the New York Times collected so [...]

14 Aug, 2015

On Learning a New Language

2021-01-03T17:27:13-06:00August 14th, 2015|Tags: |

Learning a new language means frantically running around in my mind snatching at the coat tails of words I might now, hoping to catch a consonant-vowel combination that hopefully means [...]

22 Jun, 2015

Eventually It All Gets Done

2021-01-03T17:27:17-06:00June 22nd, 2015|Tags: |

I have often have to remind myself that eventually, it all gets done. Such as sewing that button onto my son's polo shirt. It's an old Lacoste he inherited from [...]

5 Feb, 2015

Today and Tomorrow

2021-01-03T17:27:25-06:00February 5th, 2015|Tags: , |

  Today is... ... the undulating blue of the mountains against the bright of the sky ... the dusting of snow on the summits ... the road swinging up the [...]

4 Dec, 2014

Farewell to an Old Pot

2021-01-03T17:27:36-06:00December 4th, 2014|Tags: , |

Why, I ask myself, is it so hard to say good-bye to an old pot? I know why, actually, but I still keep mulling over it because it strikes me [...]

11 Sep, 2014

Remembering 9/11

2021-01-03T17:27:57-06:00September 11th, 2014|Tags: |

For my generation, today's date will live in infamy. It will simply never again be another day. 9/11 will always make me shiver, and I will always have second thoughts [...]

19 Jun, 2014

Joy is…

2021-01-03T17:28:14-06:00June 19th, 2014|Tags: |

...when the team you're rooting for in the World Cup 2014 not only shoots a goal, but wins! That picture is joy captured, right? My daughter took it as a [...]

4 Jun, 2014

Joy is…

2021-01-03T17:28:26-06:00June 4th, 2014|Tags: |

...hearing that one of my best friends got a job. She's been dealt a heavy blow of fate this year and so, after 14 years out of the workforce as [...]

19 May, 2014

Eyeing the Emptying Nest

2021-01-03T17:28:28-06:00May 19th, 2014|Tags: |

I've been in a blogging slump, and I figure it's better to admit that than to publish lackluster posts. There are books I want to write about, photo essays I want [...]

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