Today’s post is a bit of this and that. Permit me some random musings. First, who could resist a scholarly work by Dr. Willy on The Illustrated Book of Sex? This 60-year-old tome happened to be donated to our public library, where it failed to find a buyer in the book sale, though it was a bargain [...]
Several years ago, Chris mentioned the father of one of Hugh’s Little League teammates in an anecdote he was telling me. Since teams were made up of kids from a variety of schools and neighborhoods, many of the other baseball parents were people we had just met. Keeping them straight could be confusing. So I interrupted Chris’s [...]
It’s raining cats and dogs. And the boys have been fighting like cats and dogs. At 12, Malcolm provokes his big brothers as if it’s his job. Like wildfire, a bout of light teasing or bickering flares into wresting or shoving, hitting or yelling. Yesterday afternoon, a truce was declared. The boys forgot their differences [...]
Yesterday when Hugh got home from school, he asked what the hubbub was over President Obama’s message to schoolchildren. We turned on the evening news and watched as the Chief Executive delivered a speech that was “inspiring,” “on-target,” ”praiseworthy” (all quotes from Republicans, after the fact). Seeing interviews with moms in mini vans who ranted about [...]
We took a day trip last Thursday, spending late morning to early evening at the beach. I had forgotten the beauties of a short little hop. No stopping newspapers. No lining up neighbors to collect mail or water plants. No packing big suitcases or remembering medications. Ian was lifeguarding at the pool so only Hugh & Malcolm were with [...]
”I dunno, Boss, I just gotta feeling we forgot somethin…” (Chris’s suggestion for the New Yorker caption contest, which he DID NOT SEND IN because “it’s just too obvious.” The winning caption was not, in the opinion of Malcolm and me, nearly as good.) So, here’s a life lesson you have to learn the hard way. [...]
When Chris and I got together, we each brought certain things to the relationship. I introduced my Eastern boyfriend to my Midwestern family, college friends, and long-term wardrobe staple, shrink-to-fit 501 Levi’s, which in those days were available only west of the Mississippi and thus were quite exotic. Chris contributed his Pennsylvania/New York/London family, his sense of humor and amazing cooking abilities, [...]
Recently, Chris and Ian and I found ourselves at a diner for lunch. Diners are Ian’s favorite eating spots, because although he has been a vegetarian since the age of 3, this does not mean he’s a health food nut. He’ll have a strawberry shake and the mozzarella sticks, please, with ketchup standing in as his Reagan-esque veggie. [...]
WIth three teenage boys in the house, you can imagine how quickly a pan of brownies evaporates. “The brownies are GONE? I only got one piece!” “Who hogged the brownies?” “Hey, there’s nothing but crumbs!!! IAN! How late were you up last night?!!!” Outraged cries, denials, and lame justifications ensue, complete with self-righteous accountings of exactly [...]
Nobody but a kid would look at a crawdaddy and think “earring!” More scenes from our recent heavenly stay at the Thousand Islands, where there’s always a lot of relaxation going on, and also always a lot to do. Malcolm & Hugh had good luck fishing for bass. This photo looks like sushi, but we [...]
