December 30, 2012 – 7:29 am
The Christmas gift I remember most vividly from my childhood wasn’t one I received myself. Early one autumn, just over forty years ago, my father purchased a rusty, decrepit antique sleigh and set about restoring it to present to my mother. As a teenager and young woman, horses had been her passion, a passion that had no place in her adult life as a busy mother and full-time partner in my father’s business. Yet as she entered middle age, I think my mother began to worry that if she didn’t climb back on a horse soon, she might not ever…
December 21, 2012 – 1:14 pm
It is still dark as I type these words, though I’ve been awake for hours on this snow-hushed morning of the year’s shortest day. Soon, I will turn lights on, brew coffee, let the dog out, confront the pile of unwrapped Christmas gifts in the basement. But here in the shadowed quiet before dawn, I’m thinking of gifts that aren’t wrapped and placed under a tree. Gifts that are hidden within each of us, waiting to be brought forth and shared with the world. This week, to celebrate Henry’s birthday, our family went to see the dark, dazzling revival of…
December 8, 2012 – 6:54 am
I set out this morning to write about a few of my favorite things, beloved treasures I’m pleased to own and excited to be wrapping for special friends and family members this holiday season. But I hadn’t gotten far when I realized I’d have to break my list into two parts. Books today (there are just so many I adore and want to share); everything else, next time. (Links are in blue.) Charlotte’s Web, written and read by E.B. White At dinner a few weeks ago a dear friend and I talked about our all-time favorite books. Charlotte has been…
November 20, 2012 – 6:58 pm
Tomorrow night, for the first time in months, both our boys will be home, everyone sleeping in their own beds under one roof. And on Thursday afternoon we will gather round the table at my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner with the whole extended family. For well over forty years, with barely a miss, I’ve spent Thanksgiving in that very same kitchen, have eaten my dad’s grilled turkey and homemade ice cream, my mom’s pumpkin pie and peas and mashed potatoes. The cast of characters around the table has changed over time, of course. Various cousins and aunts and uncles…
December 19, 2011 – 3:05 pm
“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.” – Etty Hillesum I find myself returning again and again to Etty Hillesum’s words, absorbing them, hoping they will take deep root and live in me during this holiday season. As I sit in my kitchen on this gray December morning, so aware of time passing and so wishing to make the most of each shared…
