My husband and I practically crawl up the steps of the subway station, huffing and puffing. It’s a hot, muggy day. A few feet away, a young, homeless man sits on the sidewalk with a sign I can’t make out. What I can see, however, is the look of absolute pleasure on his face as…
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I have often said, mostly to myself, that with just one onion I could make a feast with whatever else happened to be left in the cupboards. That is the perfection of an onion. Whether raw and finely grated, roasted in the oven, or sautéed and shiny from a bit of extra virgin olive oil,…
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Some things happen in life that haunt you forever. Sometimes that’s a good thing. In the 1990s, a dear friend gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She needed to buy a gift at a now-defunct hobby shop and took him with her. As she walked up and down the aisles with baby in her…
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There’s nothing quite like visiting neighborhoods that were old stomping grounds before I moved out to the ‘burbs to start a family. A couple of years ago, I became a personal tour guide for my new husband, an Englishman. I’ll never forget exiting the West 4th subway station in Greenwich Village. The basketball courts were…
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A young father holds a little boy on his lap. The boy’s arms are wrapped around his dad’s neck, the smooth skin of his face nuzzled against a stubbly cheek. In one hand, he holds a neon green car. The scab on his knee suggests there may have been tears a few days back. Now,…
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In preparation for a camping trip, I went shopping for some shorts. In both sports stores, I walked down the dividing aisle between men’s and women’s clothing. To the left, there were rugged, cargo shorts in every earth tone and print. To the right, low-rise, butt-cheek-skimming daisy dukes in garish colors. Apparently, men require comfort…
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When you’re a kid learning how to play games from adults, you latch on to certain things, depending on your personality and perspective. For me, in Scrabble, it was “Oooooo…7-letter word. Aaah…triple-word score.” I was a nerdy, dictionary-reading kid, so as part of my strategy, I also memorized the “q” words that could be spelled…
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These are my son’s favorite muffins. Boy, did he deserve a batch after the week we’ve had. I whipped them up today in a half hour, and that included making Earl Grey tea and setting the table. Let me know what you think. Makes 12 muffins Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wet Ingredients: 3 eggs…
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Another heavenly week has come and gone. This was year 2 of my Virginia Beach writing retreat with the Doll Babies. If that’s conjuring up images of sweet, little ladies popping bon bons as they write, well, the bon bons are not far off course, but sweet…nah. If you saw us coming, you might think…
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My pal over at Celluloid Zombie passed along this award, which led me to revisit some old blog posts. The rules to the 7 x 7 Link Award are simple: Tell everyone something about yourself that nobody else knows. Link to a post I think fits the following categories: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most…
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