I recently read a copy of Joan O’Leary’s first novel, “A Killer Wedding,” after we messaged each other via social media. The last time I saw O’Leary was when she was in high school. I watched one of her GBasement Productions at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. She wrote plays and ...

I had impulsively bought a wooden Tic-Tac-Toe game set for my mother to use. The classic game was familiar to her, didn’t take long to play and she usually won. Just like my children, she would obsess about playing, pointing at which piece for me to move. I remember playing endless ...

I saw a restaurant sign that stated “homemade jam” on the menu, and I wondered how, in the ever-living time of food regulation, a restaurant can make items at their personal home and bring them to work? Perhaps they were using the wrong term, trying to evoke a cozy atmosphere. Nope. When ...

It’s not even October and my front porch is fully decorated for Halloween. It’s not just the overwhelming amount of spider webs, it’s the daddy-longlegs lurking on the walls. There was a brief moment in time when each one would scurry away when humans approached. No longer. We are ...

The first time we walked a section of the old Delaware and Hudson (D&H) railroad, my daughter was learning to ride a two-wheeled bike. It was a massive undertaking, but she only landed on the ground twice — once in frustration and the second time due to a tree root. It was a successful ...

I asked my daughter if she knew how butterflies taste. She gave me a surprised look and responded with, “I’ve never had one.” I am so confused. No. It doesn’t help to keep repeating the exact words, but with a different tone and inflection. I tried. Embarrassingly enough, it took me a ...