The reality of my retirement is that I am either incredibly productive or accomplish nothing. This week was no different. On my manic cleaning day, I unburied a letter that had been sitting on a side table for weeks. I remember it arriving in the mail, but I tossed it off to the side. Opening ...

Our son Quin came home for a visit last week. We hadn’t seen him in a while, but everything began in a familiar rhythm. After being greeted at the door, Quin stood in the dining room making small talk about the drive, until abruptly he moved toward the kitchen. I smiled as I thought, ...

Halloween was an emotional eternity ago, although, in reality, it’s only been days. We had our five trick-or-treaters. The deer actually left our pumpkins alone. And we consumed the four bags of Halloween candy I bought “just in case.” All in all, this year was much like last year. It ...

One of our dogs crossed the rainbow bridge this week. Sophie, our little Chiweenie, has been slowly failing for a while, so it wasn’t unexpected. That doesn’t mean that it was easy. By accident or design, I have become Mother Reaper; the person in our family who oversees our dogs’ final ...

“Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing.” OK, so maybe I wasn’t one of Macbeth’s witches, but I felt like one as I studied the display of herbal teas. While I may sip on lemonade and iced ...

As young parents, we suffered from the illusion of control. We knew with absolute certainty what paths our children would take, what sports they would play, what their personalities would be. Lord, we were foolish. But we knew ... we knew our children would love whole grains and vegetables, our ...