The floor of the car is littered with paint chips. Bob and I have been choosing colors for our newest Sap Bush Hollow enterprise: the vacation rental, to be located in the apartment over the post office, next to the cafe. We bought the post office building in our hamlet two years ago partly to […]
Delicious Math
Our family is sitting on the edge of Mallet Pond just before sunset. Dusky Doodles is beside the water, a look of perplexed consternation on her furry face. The September air is clear, and we’ve found a sweet spot, where if we call out across the way, our echoes return over the water as clearly […]
Must we eat the children?
I’m losing track of how many winters I’ve spent working on this novel. I think 2017 marked the fourth. And while that manuscript sits on my computer awaiting my attention, an outline for a new book is growing like a fungus on my desk, taking shape regardless of the lack of time and sunlight I’m […]
Chronic Hope
It’s 4 am, and I’m alone with a field of crickets outside my window screens, two dogs, one pressure canner, and 35 quarts of tomato sauce. It’s the week before Labor Day. Since 2011, I have a thing about canning tomatoes before Labor Day. It seems like we’re all learning special names that make our […]
August
I remember when August was defined by crickets pulsing through the day and night; by goldenrods stretching tall to meet the deep blue sky; by the blackberries that lured me off the roadsides, slicing my legs and arms as payment for their plump fruit. I remember how August was the calm before the storm of […]
The Butterfly
“There was one boy who I’m pretty sure had a crush on me. Because he burbed in my face. Then, a little while later, he walked up next me, farted, and then accused me of doing it. Can someone explain to me how that expresses affection?” Saoirse is having an extraordinary summer. To thank her […]
How to prepare a hot dog
“Can we play Percy Jackson?” Ula’s voice rises up, tentative, from the back of the car. Saoirse’s best friend Ania is back east from California. Saoirse and Ania turn 14 this month, and I have them here with me for only a few short days, as they are headed out on a back packing trip […]
This facility serves nuts.
“Food brings people together. It’s just amazing…” The cafe is closed, nearly empty of customers, and I’ve made my way over to table one, where two retired English teachers from my high school are lingering over their coffee and pie. They are here this afternoon, reaching out to each other, reaching out to the world […]
Love & Duty
“May I do my work out of love, and not out of duty.” I say this every day as part of my morning prayer. I added it in a few years back, when homeschooling Saoirse and Ula was at its most challenging. Like every over-achieving mom, I was having a hard time sorting out what […]
Culture Shock
Is this character, or is this cultural? I’ve just returned home from the cafe for lunch to find two Spanish teenagers melted across my living room couch, faces illuminated by smartphones. My own teenager has retreated to help her dad stack the firewood. I don’t think they notice she’s left them. They don’t even notice […]
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