I learned to drive in the fall of 1980, when the future tasted like a raindrop on the tip of my tongue. It was after the summer we moved from my growing-up house into one that, in my mother's words, didn't have room for my father. It was the year we packed up books, clothes, … Continue reading Independence day
The letter, were I to write it, might open this way: What a year this has been, right from the start... In January we had the craziest weather. One weekend it snowed; the next it was sunny and 70 degrees. Almost every night ended with an outrageously vibrant, pink sunset. Inside the confines of our … Continue reading On birds, and letters, and opera.
From the moment we master basic locomotive skills, we humans begin to pursue our independence and separate from our parents. It is as natural and ordinary and miraculous a process as any other in the animal kingdom - which is not to say that it is easy, for either child or parent. No matter how … Continue reading Letters from camp.
What began with The Shining, released on Memorial Day weekend, ended, a week after Labor Day, with Ordinary People. In between were Caddyshack, The Blue Lagoon, Airplane!, Brubaker, Urban Cowboy and He Knows You're Alone. It was the summer of Luke and Laura, of Funkytown, Magic and Sailing. The United States led a 65-country boycott … Continue reading Summer 1980.
Perhaps what I meant was actually this: When my children were little, during the age of great dependency, I sometimes, oftentimes, struggled in my job as their mother. My struggles were laid bare most visibly on weekends, holidays and vacations. Particularly at the beach. **** Once, we loaded the last bag in the car at … Continue reading Starfish gazing.
The key, I say, is to start with a good anchor and then keep it simple; let simple words do the work so you can remember: I'm going on a trip, and I'm taking an alligator. I'm going on a trip, and I'm taking an alligator and a ball, she says. I'm going on a … Continue reading The red balloon.
Did you ever ask Dad to help you learn how to ski? We were in the car heading back toward home, my son and I, having driven all the way from our midtown home to the faraway suburban tennis center, site of a Thursday afternoon school match, only to be notified right as we were … Continue reading Gravity
The cat lives upstairs, in a three-compartment suite comprised of two bedrooms and a bathroom. The bedrooms each have human-sized beds, and the bathroom has two small cat-sized beds that formerly belonged to Build-a-Bear creations and now belong to the cat. All three rooms have sunny windows and secret hiding places and the comings-and-goings of … Continue reading A room with a view.
