Category: Blog
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Sea Lions, Salmon and Bears, Oh My!
Another ordinary day in Juneau, Alaska “We just got in a fight with a sea lion.” The message from my daughter falls into the category of “texts I never expected to receive.” It ranks on par with the “There’s a big bear in your backyard,” call we got from the neighbor this morning as we…
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Worth the Wait
Good things come to those who wait. The moment we have been waiting for has arrived: our local grocery store is now carrying orange flesh melons. We heard about these mouth-watering little beauties from a client last summer and quickly became addicted. The outside looks like honeydew, the inside resembles cantaloupe, and the sweet taste…
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Eighteen Kisses for the Dog
As a dog owner, I frequently find myself smooching my pooches. One of the best perks of dog ownership is the welcome that greets me when I get home. My dogs state their happiness in whines and wiggles as soon as I cross the threshold. They press close and rub against me, eyes bright…
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Selfies Are Not in My Skill Set
I Cannot Take a Decent Selfie if My Life Depended on It I can type 60+ words per minute and use an adding machine without looking at the keys. I do jigsaw puzzles, sew and embroider. Fluting a piecrust or stuffing a cannoli is well within my skill set. But I cannot take a decent…
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One Act of Larceny Lingers for Years
My Oldest Possession is Stolen Property One of my oldest possessions is a teddy bear I acquired from a cousin when I was a child. To be honest, I stole it from him. I’m not sure why this act of larceny still lingers in my mind. I was never much of a rule-breaker, although my…
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Don’t Trifle with Tradition
I didn’t realize how traditional my family was until I tried to change them (the traditions, not the family). I made a slight change to a favorite homemade salad dressing for a recent family picnic. To my great surprise the family actually noticed, and they definitely did not approve. The faintly accusatory mutters of…
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Gratitude Combats Midlife Crisis
A Weekend of Milestones Prompts Gratitude, Not a Midlife Crisis I laughingly told a friend that this weekend was a midlife crisis in the making as my son graduated from college and my daughter turned 21. But while these milestones are significant, they are by no means crisis inducing. If anything, seeing my children achieve…
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Teaching Common Sense to Cats
An old dog might learn a new trick, but you can’t teach common sense to cats. We all know highly intelligent people who don’t have a lick of common sense. I wonder if this holds true for the animal kingdom as well? Cats are supposed to be innately intelligent. But do they apply all…
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Fitting Room Phobia
Reunion Causes Attack of Fitting Room Phobia It must be a conspiracy of fate that after recently purging my closet of an outdated wardrobe, I now need a new dress for my upcoming high school reunion. But in order to acquire said new dress, I must face one of my bigger neuroses, Fitting Room Phobia.…
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Platitudes Top the List of Pet Peeves
Everybody has pet peeves. As a writer, banal platitudes top my list. After chatting about our busy schedules, an acquaintance recently admonished me to “stop and smell the roses.” While I appreciated the sentiment, deep in my wordsmith’s soul I couldn’t help cringing at that unimaginative cliché. The English language holds a wealth of…