“Wild”
Cheryl Strayed, author of “Wild” is a 43-year old writer, wife, and mother who lives in Portland, Oregon. When Strayed was 22 years old, she lost her 45-year old mother to lung cancer and spent the next four years alternating between trying to preserve her family and her marriage, both of which disintegrated by the time she was 26 years old. Recognizing the need for a change, Strayed (the name she chose for herself after her divorce) set out to hike 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), a 2,663 mile trail that lies east of the Pacific coast from California to Washington, and then write about the experience. 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
Cookies For Grown-Ups
In 2008, a company called Lark Fine Foods started making and selling “cookies for grown-ups” meaning cookies that are full of flavor but not overly sweet. Using all natural ingredients: flour, butter, olive oil, whole wheat, sugar, chocolate, and spices, Lark Fine Foods makes scrumptious crisp cookies that can be truly appreciated by adults, although kids have been known to devour them, too. Read more
“Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage”
One hundred years ago today – April 10, 1912 – the Titanic left Southampton, England on its maiden voyage stopping at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland before continuing across the Atlantic Ocean towards New York. Four days later on April 14, 1912 at nearly midnight, while maneuvering through the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic hit a massive iceberg causing enough damage for the ship to sink 2 hours and 40 minutes later on the morning of April 15, 1912. Read more
” The Sense of an Ending”
Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize (an annual award for the best original full length novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth), “The Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes, is a story told from the perspective of Anthony (Tony) Webster, a British pensioner who finds cause to reexamine the past after an old friend comes back into his life. 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
Powell’s Sweet Shoppe
There are three big holidays a year where candy is emphasized: Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Halloween. With the Easter season upon us, there is no better time to talk about candy: jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, malted eggs, marshmallow chicks, lollipops, peanut butter eggs, and more. Read more
How Would You Grade Your Partner In The Kitchen?
My husband often says “Honey, I emptied the dishwasher for you” which really means that he took the dishes out of the dishwasher and piled them on the counter top for me to put away. For years I thanked him although secretly I thought he was using the wrong pronoun in announcing he emptied the dishwasher for me because I never laid claim to the dishwasher. Read more
“Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?”
Jeanette Winterson is a British born writer who wrote the best-selling and award-winning book “Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit” which is a contemporary story of a woman coming to terms with her sexuality.”Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” is not a sequel but a complementary book that reveals the author’s attempt to come to terms with her childhood and adult life. Read more
The Champagne Mango
Twenty-six years ago when I moved to Florida, I tasted my first mango and although the sweet, juicy taste was sensational, the peeling of the skin, the huge pit, and the stringy texture required patience (which I don’t have a lot of) and quite a bit of effort for a relatively small amount of fruit. Why couldn’t mangos be like oranges whose skin is easy to cut off? Or, apples with little pits and lots of fruit? Read more
Paddock Post 