Absent the Killer Instinct; Present a Heart
My daughter finished the swim season last year with an announcement that she was joining the school’s water polo team. She had never played water polo before but with most of the swim team opting to play during off-season, I encouraged her to take on a new sport if she was interested. A week later, she came home and announced the coach asked if she wanted to train to be the team’s goalie. Seems the current goalie was a senior and graduating so a slot was opening up. Given her freshman status, her height and long arm reach, she was the ideal prospect and took to the sport with a total sense of commitment. Read more 
My Husband’s Mistress: Fern
Several years ago, my husband starting leaving the house to go work on the “road” – the name we gave our driveway that meanders through a dense forest in the Adirondacks. Thinking it strange that he spent so much time on the road, I peeked out a window one morning and encountered him on his hands and knees gently pushing aside ferns to pull out prickly raspberry vines and weeds that were vying for ground space. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was clearing out the brush and weeds to give his ferns space to grow. My husband loves ferns: those fragile looking green-leaved surface cover plants that can spread as fast as kudzu if given the chance. Read more
The Staff of Life: Poiláne
Everyone knows to visit the Louvre when in Paris, but not everyone knows to visit “Poiláne,” one of the oldest bread makers in the City of Light for a taste of what real bread should taste like. My friend, Nancy told me I needed to visit this bakery so on a beautiful sunny 70 degree day in Paris, I set off on foot for the Left Bank with plans to enjoy a bread – the French sourdough loaf – that’s been made the same way for hundreds of years. Read more
An Open Letter to All Non-Parents from a Parent
When I was in my early 20’s, I worked in an office with several women who had children or were having children. One woman in particular was referred to as “Earth Mother” and was a frequent butt of jokes and resentment because she would bring her baby to the office, breastfeed him in the empty conference room, work special hours, and from time to time ask us to pick up the slack on group projects – none of which endeared her to us. She was also brilliant, hard-working, and a time management czar. Read more
Thoughts on Fashion
Most dresses look better on models than real women but when a dress looks awful on a model, then something has to be wrong. In our fashion conscious society, every woman over the age of sixteen knows that solids generally look better than stripes on the female form, especially when it comes to a dress; the exception being the traditional french sailor top paired with a solid skirt, pants or shorts. When I came upon this striped dress, I did a double take and couldn’t help but wonder “what was the designer thinking?” followed by “what was the buyer of the store thinking?” Even a 5 foot 10 inch, 120-pound, size 4 model doesn’t make this dress look good. Stripes – especially the large bright variety – belong in Dr. Seuss books, not on our bodies. Read more
“Freedom,” “The Dovekeepers,” and “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Last month I was at R. Julia Booksellers, an independent bookstore in Madison, Connecticut to attend an author forum. A two-story building that looks like a town landmark, R. Julia Booksellers was opened twenty-two years ago by Roxanne Coady who has put and kept this small bookstore on the literary map despite the growth of the big chains and the mammoth bookseller of all: Amazon whose very existence threatens all independent booksellers (full disclosure: I buy books from Amazon). Read more
A Mother’s Gratitude
Mother’s Day seems to be about the kids bringing Mom breakfast in bed or going out to brunch and sometimes even about flowers and chocolates. These are all thoughtful and delicious, but, I want to offer a different take on Mother’s Day this year that focuses on gratitude; gratitude for my husband who gave me my daughter. Read more
20 Things That Shouldn’t Be Difficult….
Through the years, I’ve learned there is a difference between aggravations and problems. Most problems are really aggravations and most aggravations we encounter day-to-day shouldn’t be so difficult. Among them: Read more
Soliciting Grocery Shoppers for Donations
Over the past week, I’ve been asked 11 times by retail clerks if I want to donate money to a charitable cause. This question has been asked by cashiers in grocery stores and in a variety of retail establishments. Yesterday, I decided to use the self check-out at a Stop & Shop grocery store in Connecticut and was approached by three separate sales clerks asking if I wanted to donate money. After I finished bagging my groceries, I went to the manager’s desk and politely told her that most people want to grocery shop in peace, that the grocery store is one place where the expectation is to be a customer, not a source of donations. Read more
The Brutal Honesty of the Young
I love the brutal honesty of kids and teens. They don’t need to stand in front of the Bocca della Veritá to state the truth because the world hasn’t piled the rules of gracious manners on their doorstep yet. Have you ever noticed that kids always talk about everything that is going on in their house much to the parent’s dismay?
Spend a few hours with a child and you will learn that Dad said the “F word” last night, Mom cooked breakfast for dinner, Grandpa has a new girlfriend that Mom and Dad don’t like, and Sister had a meltdown because she forgot to lock the bathroom door and Brother walked in on her while she was on the toilet. One day my friend’s 4-year son walked out of the bathroom and announced to his family “I have a big butt and a little penis.” Forks dropped, laughter ensued and my friend pulled his son aside and said “son, you may not want to advertise that family attribute.” Read more
Paddock Post 