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Category Archives: Friends
In Print
It wasn’t a milestone birthday and my expectations had been pretty much non-existent. Aside from wishing some things could finally be repaired or upgraded around the house (I keep wishing for that every year), this day marking another trip around … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Holidays, Spring, treasures, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged appreciation, birthdays, Gifts
2 Comments
Second Coming
About seven months ago I posted a piece called Rage , concerning a not very good day I had been having that culminated with some crazy-ass woman chasing me into the parking lot of Kohl’s department store in an intense road … Continue reading
Ashes
Left holding the bag again Or box, as it so happens A container of dust That is not really him * Okay it’s true the person is gone Their spirit and essence Does not reside in this unworthy cube of … Continue reading
Butterfly Sheets
On the day I was changing the bed linens, I came across a set of butterfly pattern sheets that had migrated to the back of the shelf in the closet. The pillow cases were long gone and the elastic on … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Coping, Friends, grief, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized
Tagged babies, be here now, birth, death, Friends, grief, holding on, letting go, life, Memories, mom
2 Comments
Found and Lost
During the gawky, dark, painfully insecure pre and early-adolescent summers of my youth, I attended what was advertised as an “inter-faith, inter-racial” summer camp out in what was once the wilds of Connecticut, before it became greatly suburbanized. From what … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Autumn, Friends, grief, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged Childhood, i remember you, missed opportunities, old friends, summer camp, the past comes back
2 Comments
Men Give Me Knives
While rummaging through some drawers and stored boxes, I came across a number of different knives, mostly pocket-type and folding knives, which have been given to me by various men over the years. It is not the first time I … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged a woman receiving a knife, giving a knife, knives as gifts, men and women, pocket knife
3 Comments
Tale of the Traveling Chairs
The Great Divorce in our family took place in California back in the 1970’s. Along with moving herself and children to the bottom half of a stucco two-family house with a Spanish tile roof, my mother launched into her new … Continue reading
Posted in Divorce, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged bentwood chairs, cane chairs, clearing out, divorce, family history, Memories, old furniture, possessions, purging, relocation
4 Comments
What It Boils Down To
It’s that time of year in these colder regions where the maple sap is running. This past weekend a number of local people have been busy boiling down their sap. On a Saturday complimented by a stellar-blue jay sky, friends … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged February, maple sugaring, maple syrup, Memories, sap boiling, simple pleasures
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My Little Black Book is Blue
Not that long ago it seems, before cell phone contact lists and computer address databases, there was The Address Book. Even though that information is stored on both my phone and in a computer file, stashed in a top drawer … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged address book, Change, impermanence, Memories, time
4 Comments
A Two Boy Wedding
It is a few days past the wedding, and I am still awash in an almost dream-state; every once in a while welling up with emotion which brings me onto the edge of tears. It is an honor to be … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged gay wedding, magical rainbows, marriage, rainbow wedding, two boys wedding, Wedding
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Left Out
There are always challenges in the reshuffling of families, friendships and loyalties when it comes to a divorce. Over the many years since mine occurred, there have been waves of problems laced with intense hostility interspersed with moments of peacefulness … Continue reading
Posted in Coping, Divorce, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized, Vent
Tagged being excluded, divorce, divorcee, ex-husband, ex-inlaws, former family, former inlaws, hostile divorce, rules of divorce
4 Comments
Slowly I Turned……
“Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch….” I realize I am dating myself here, because about half the people I have said this to know what I am talking about and the other half don’t. The line is … Continue reading
Posted in Bucket List, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Humor, Travel, Uncategorized, Wow!
Tagged Bucket List, Canadian Border, chick travel, Niagra Falls, road trip, vacation, women friends
4 Comments
Major Artistic Deficit Disorder
Having grown up the child of artists, it naturally followed that those we interacted with and bonded with would lean towards the creative. And so, throughout this life, I have found myself surrounded by an abundance of talented friends. I … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized
Tagged Am I an Artist?, art as a living, artist life, artistic friends, artists, creativity, lack of focus, talent
14 Comments
That Snooty Woman With All the Fancy Instruments
One of the things I like to do for leisure and sometimes passion is to play percussive instruments. I like to drum, especially on drums played with the hands – a djembe, a doumbek, a frame drum or riqq. I … Continue reading
Posted in Deafness, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged aloofness, Drumming, group dynamics, perspective, possessions, unfriendliness
4 Comments
I Kissed Rick Danko
I didn’t plan on attending Levon Helm’s wake today. Yes, I had been a fan of The Band for many years, but I dislike crowds and am seriously averse to fan/fame worship. And yet, on some level I was still … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized
Tagged fame, fans, idol worship, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, The Band, Wakes, Woodstock
9 Comments
A Matter of Interpretation
As someone who writes essays and blog posts, you would think that there would be a corresponding adeptness to creating written correspondence that would clearly translate my thoughts to the recipient. It is not as if I am writing in … Continue reading
Posted in Coping, Deafness, Friends, Perspective, Regrets, Uncategorized
Tagged hearts, hurt, hurt feelings, insults, miscommunication, misinterpretation, misunderstandings, translation, Valentine card
6 Comments
The Sedum Project
I make a visit to the grave about twice a year. As expected, the cemetery is a quiet, green place that sits below open skies and shaded lanes lined with old trees. Officially, two grandparents and my mother now rest there. Unofficially, my … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Gardening, Uncategorized
Tagged Family, family rituals, Flowers, gravestones, graveyards, johnny appleseed, Kindness, perennials, rituals, sedum, tending a grave, visiting the cemetery
4 Comments
Unravelling
Ivy is a knitter and I am not at all, nor will I ever be, no matter how much I would like to be. Since the earliest of times, as far back as when my grandmother tried to teach me, … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Uncategorized
Tagged ball of yarn, bonding, friendship, Knitting, learning to knit, sharing, Sheep and Wool Festival, winding wool, women
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The Hippie Haj
I have a really bad attitude when it comes to the commercialization of those things which represent “my” generation, which is that of The Boomer. Most specifically, I gag at all this glorifying of the “Woodstock era” – the life and times … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Bethel Woods, Hippie Museum, Hippies, The 60's, The 70's, Woodstock, Woodstock concert
3 Comments
Eye Candy
The irises are pretty much blown by and gone here. Last week, my friend and I managed to make a long trek to Montclair, New Jersey to visit the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens, which sits at the bottom of Mountainside Park. The day … Continue reading
Never Mind – I’ll Tell You Later
The group is bantering witticisms back and forth and raucous laughter ensues. I am standing among them, nodding and smiling, and my brain is working hard and at double time. I am trying to string together the words I missed with … Continue reading
Posted in Coping, Deafness, Friends, Hearing Impaired, Perspective, Rant
Tagged hard of hearing, hearing, hearing loss, socialization
13 Comments
Resisting the Social Network (is that you in that photo?)
It was through my then fourteen year old that I first became aware of online social networks and blogs like Live Journal and MySpace, where it seemed kids were regurgitating the minutiae of their lives ad nauseum and flaunting their bootie for the … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged discretion, facebook, privacy, social network
1 Comment
Two Wakes and a Birthday Party
Two wakes and a birthday party in one week. It’s enough to really give you pause for thought. One woman was the mother of a co-worker. The other one was a neighbor, not much older than I am now. A … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized
Tagged birthday, old friends, rituals
1 Comment
Dinner Club for the Anti-Socialites
Adjusting from a rural/exurb environment to a small city has been a very big head realignment for me. There are many things I have had trouble embracing about relocating into the House of the Significant Other, but the one thing this urban scene has going for it … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Uncategorized
Tagged club, dinner with friends, good food, monthly dinner, rituals, socializing
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A Little Piece of Sun
A friend gave me some Paperwhite bulbs (Narcissus papyraceus for you botanical types) for Christmas. For those who might be unfamiliar, you force the bulbs in a pot indoors with the idea that they will bloom in the winter and … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Spring, Uncategorized, Winter
Tagged forcing bulbs, Gardening, house plants, narcissus, paperwhites, taste of spring
3 Comments
daeja's view 