It was early June before my husband and I finally arrived at our log cabin in Maine where we would again spend the summer. As usual, we looked...
Especially during summers in Maine, I am inspired by poet and essayist Mary Oliver. Yes, we share the name Mary. We both grew up in the Midwest and...
What have you done since Jan. 1st? This question was recently asked of me by a friend on a morning walk. Post holidays, with changeable winter...
A chilly rain fell as I began my yoga practice on an autumn morning a few weeks ago. Hands up toward the sky, a forward bend, down dog, and up...
This is what I know: On a cold, sunny morning a few weeks ago when I had returned from my walk, I brewed coffee and brought breakfast to my writing...
I smile as I open a morning email from the NYT Cooking newsletter. Its subject line, “A Taste of Fall,” introduces a perfect-sounding menu for a...
Red maple leaves flutter down along our woodsy path on a chilly morning. Out with Jasper-the-Westie for our early walk, I have on a fleece and my...
I come from a family of Midwestern women wedded to fabric, fiber and thread. Two grandmothers, a favorite aunt and my mother became early role...
For me as a youthful Midwesterner, Younkers Department Store in Sioux City was the inspiring destination for a day away from the monotony and...
March is an unstable month. Unreliable and unpredictable. Streets and sidewalks can be clear and safe one day and treacherous the next. Too often...
The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, a book by Marcus Samuelsson, was a Christmas present from my husband. It was a thoughtful...
A holiday letter from a college classmate asked a provocative question: Has our education in the humanities made the isolation of COVID-19 easier...