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Late summer, the evening light shifts, almost incandescent. I love that the sun always lets us know where we are, on the planet and in life. I’m sitting in my backyard. String lights illuminate a graying wooden fence and red Adirondack chairs underneath the maple tree. On hot days, a squirrel lounges on the chair arm, flattening himself so completely in a shockingly unsquirrel like way, that if I notice, I’m compelled to check on him, make sure he’s OK. I approach, he scramble...
"When the student is ready the teacher appears. When the student is truly ready the teacher disappears." - Lao Tzu I love that quote. Aren't we all students making discoveries about ourselves and the world throughout our lives? We are if we're awake. I know I've learned a lot since becoming a parent some 23 years ago. I don't normally get all philosophical, but I was trying to think of ideas for this essay when I passed by Peirce Park and saw Little League season has begun....
Our house is a very fine house. When we moved into our split, it was a compromise of sorts. The house - around 50 years old - was not new, yet not really old. Instead, it was affordable and fixed up. Nice and new to us. No weekends would be spent rehabbing. A compromise because I'm an old house person and my spouse a new house person. Give me quirky layouts, stairs in the kitchen, musty smells from summers past, spirits left behind. My husband likes pristine. Fresh paint,...
I'm sitting at my laptop wondering how Pam does it. How does she compose a column, every single week, and one that's a lot longer than the 450 words I need to write. I don't mean to dissuade any of you from becoming a guest columnist. It's fun, pushes your creative muscles. I'm waiting for inspiration, a heartwarming story, anything to start the new year off right. Instead, I've got nothing but the doldrums. My holiday spirit put away with the decorations. I'm not a winter...
I was scrubbing potatoes one evening when I asked my husband if he thinks dogs can get their feelings hurt. "Are you talking about Sasha?" "No," I reply, "just generally." "Sure, if their owners yell at them or whack them with a newspaper." He thinks he's being funny. He knows how I feel about animals and about violence. "I mean, can dogs hurt other dog's feelings?" I ask. "No, you're being ridiculous." I don't think I am. I was asking because we've got a mean girl in our...
Several weeks ago, a friend was lamenting summer’s end as we drank margaritas on her deck. We chatted and watched the western sky glow. “Summer’s the best. Every year it’s a different story,” she said. “I hate to say it, but I’m glad it’s over,” I replied. It’s autumn now. I hope your summer was a magical story. Like following ribbons of roads on cross-country adventures. Hots dogs, sun and too much beer in the bleachers. Sleeping with the windows open, the invisible tree...
I'm walking my dog by The Lane Elementary. As we approach, she eyes the bulky bulldogs guarding the front and goes down on her front paws, ready to play. But the dogs are made of concrete. Recent additions honoring the school's bulldog mascot, they are lovely. "Not real," I say on repeat. Trying to teach her a new command. She sniffs and realizes I'm right. We walk on. Cement dogs capture her curiosity. If you see a curious husky pulling toward your house to greet your dog...
I saw five robins in my front yard this morning. It’s almost time for baseball and the backstop at the Hinsdale Little League field in Peirce Park is being redone. Gabby AND Rachel are the next Bachelorettes and it’s March Madness. After two long years of COVID and now, with a war in Ukraine, it helps to find little things in our messy world that bring joy. I’m flattened by this post on social media. “Morning routine: 1. Wake up. 2. Check on Zelensky. 3. Coffee.” It’s surreal...
A college friend of mine is going to be a first-time grandparent soon and wants to suggest baby names. Names. Funny thing about names ... I have a group of friends, and, coincidentally, we're all redheads. Back in the day, we dubbed ourselves the Redhead Club. (Sorry, Gen Zers, we weren't Gingers. This was the 1990s.) We'd call club meetings as a reason to dine out, drink wine and share girl talk. After going out, we'd convene in the third-floor apartment on West Cornelia in...
I think we surprised ourselves when we got another dog right away. Cody had been gone only one week when I started looking at Siberian husky rescue sites. "Only for fun," I promised my husband. But the empty backyard and quiet house were too much. I couldn't sleep, so I'd wander the house at night, looking for my dog that I hoped maybe, just maybe, I'd find asleep on the living room couch. We had a small plaque in our kitchen that my son bought in Texas. It read, "A house is...
The room where my husband Mark and I wait with our dog Cody is sterile and smells like antiseptic. It never bothered me before, but now the bare beige walls and steel table seem harsh and mean. We sit in silence on the hard wooden bench. We've discussed every possibility. Everything's been tried and nothing worked. I've worn my glasses for a month now. My contacts get too fogged up when I cry. I scan my phone while Mark sits with his elbows on his knees, watching our dog....
