Dying With Your Boots On
The Cuisinart, Circa 1981 and Cole Slaw
The summer of 1981, I was 20 years old and just finished my sophomore year in college. Prince Charles was going to marry Lady Diana Spencer that summer, MTV was launched, and the first woman (Sandra Day O’Connor) was nominated to the US Supreme Court. It was quite a year but I remember 1981 mostly because it was the year I discovered a kitchen appliance that transformed food preparation: The Cuisinart. Read more
Blue Mountain Lake, 12812
Today, like most days I stopped at the local post office to pick up the mail. We don’t have mail delivery in our small village called Blue Mountain Lake in upstate New York – everyone has a box. Liz is our postmistress and she knows everything that is going on and is not averse to passing along information, which suits everyone just fine. In and out is impossible as locals and summer residents stop to talk about what’s going on in town (not much, usually but that’s the way everyone likes it), the weather, or how bad the black flies are this year. Read more
Fresh Eggs, Anyone?
While driving through the back roads of the Adirondack State Park, there was a sign advertising farm fresh eggs. Real farm fresh eggs; not the smooth clean eggs carefully packed in cartons and perfectly lined up in the refrigerated section of most American grocery stores. Read more
The Ice Bath
Market Day in Geneva, Switzerland
Saturday morning is market day in most of Switzerland: a time to wake up early, forgo breakfast at home with the knowledge that a better meal awaits at the Rive market in downtown Geneva. Rive is actually the name of the parking garage that borders the market and because these two consonants and two vowels form such an easy word to pronounce, the market has become known as “Rive” by the locals. Read more
Paddock Post 