Within the confines of this year's Presidential election we have a lot of things to consider: the fitness of the candidates to hold the highest or next-to-highest office in the United States, the issues, the potential ramifications on both foreign and domestic policy, the future of our nation and its… Read full post »

When we were children, my cousins,* Eric, Manny and Dave, and I used to play together all the time. Their house had a den which was cleverly designated “the play room” that was filled with t… Read full post »

I took a drive from Boston on Saturday to New Hampshire and witnessed some of the devastation wrought by the ice storm that hit on Friday. Of course I brought with me my trusty camera and got a bunch of images.

This view is through the car windshield… Read full post »

My local supermarket often has produce marked way down when it reaches the point of no return. In my house, we call this “used fruit.” When

it comes to bananas, this status indicates that they are bruised and have copious… Read full post »

My daughter loves Toll House Cookies. Invented right here in Massachusetts, this cookie has become arguably one of the most popular treats in the United States. Also known as chocolate chip cookies, the butter-and-sugar dough studded with semi-sweet morsels and walnuts, there are thousa… Read full post »

Several days ago, we received a letter from the Springfield unit of the Shriners Hospitals for Children. My daughter has been a patient there for fifteen years. My earlier post, “Journey of a Lifetime” tells the story of the many surgeries and procedures that she endu… Read full post »

After photographing the snowbound barbecue grill on my back deck, I got a brilliant idea. I’d gotten those cardboard 3D glasses at the supermarket so that we can watch the Monsters vs. Aliens preview during the Super Bowl tonight. And apparently there are 3D commercials.

Lame, perhaps… Read full post »

Over the past few months, I've enjoyed reading the many thoughtful posts offered by Kent Pitman. He is an interesting person who has had much influence on both young people just starting out in the field of computer software development and architecture and on loyal viewers of the CBS daytime dr/… Read full post »

I've been thinking (see, you did  smell wood burning!) that it would be a great idea for grocery stores to offer teaching opportunities for customers to learn more cost-efficient ways to prepare meals. One local supermarket offers information about $10 meals (total for four people!) on their web… Read full post »

When I was a child, I dreamed of living in Boston and now that I do, I am always looking for pictures of the city that form a portrait that will express my feelings for it. This photo essay is a Valentine to the city I love.

I rambled around… Read full post »

Many people shy away from making homemade macaroni and cheese because it requires that they make a roux (pronounced roo) that’s the basis of a béchamel (French for white sauce, and pronounced bey'-shu-mel) and those skills sound just too scary. If you take your time, keep t… Read full post »

With a nod to Open Salon’s slogan “You make the headlines,” on my page,
You Make the Captions!

Last month, we had a lot of fun with Contest the Second: CoyoteOldStyle’s Photo Caption Contest. Today I’m offering for your captioning pleasure some new “inter/… Read full post »

Last night I went to bed and slept like a dead rock. It was glorious. It was restful. The dreams were fantastic and detailed, leading me through a wonderland of thoughts and emotions and interesting "what-ifs."

Tonight, no such luck. I went to bed tired. The day was busy, packing… Read full post »

This meal has been a staple of New England cuisine for hundreds of years. The method of preserving meat with large kernels of rock salt has existed since ancient times and the term “corned” to designate this method has been part of the Oxford English Dictionary since the yea… Read full post »

This was posted originally on March 31 of this year as a birthday tribute to my daughter. I repost it here in response to Thomas Rogers' Open call: Caring for a child with a disability.

Easter morning. You arrived amid the blooming, awakening of the Earth. You poked… Read full post »

She packed the basket carefully that day. The salad was plucked in early morning from her garden, the tomatoes already warm and fragrant, crisp greens still damp with dew. One crusty loaf of yeasty bread, its center soft and ready, found its way into the basket. Some cheese just at t… Read full post »

Recently Zumalicious posted an open call challenge for a "photo safari" of our environs. There have been some beautiful photos of picturesque places. Submitted for your approval, a photo safari of a walk around a park in my home town in New Hampshire.

I went out the front door, making sure… Read full post »

With a nod to Open Salon’s slogan “You make the headlines,” on my page,
You Make the Captions!

Last month, we had a lot of fun with Coyote’s “In Praise of Spring” Pix with Caption Contest. Within the last week I stumbled onto some “interesting” ima/… Read full post »

Because you asked for it, here are some photos I took this afternoon while reveling in mud and the relative warmth. And for added fun, since this is Open Salon where “You make the headlines,” on this page, You Make the Captions!

Write some creative, pithy, thought-provoking, silly,… Read full post »

Easter morning. You arrived amid the blooming, awakening of the Earth. You poked your head into the world amid the glorious music of the Resurrection. Your arrival was a little late and more than a little controversial.

You grew, vocalized at your brothers. Learned to sha… Read full post »

My son’s first job was in a neighborhood grocery store when he was 15. After making a less than successful attempt at bicycle repair, he is back to work in another store with a deli. Having worked in commercial delis and restaurants has had an effect on him, of… Read full post »

My daughter got the thin envelope today.

For those of you who don’t recognize the significance of that statement, this envelope contains the rejection notice from her first choice college. This is a school she has visited several times, fell in love wit… Read full post »

Mother Nature delivered the delayed, but threatened, spanking. Snow, ice, sleet, high winds—she hit us with all of it.

The thaw had lasted long enough, however, to lure certain hibernating animals out of their burrows in a quest for food or company. It’s why, as I wa… Read full post »

This morning, I commented at fingerlakeswanderer's blog on her excellent piece "They Shoot Doctors, Don't They?"  about the outrageous terrorist act perpetrated in Kansas of shooting Dr. George Tiller to death. I tried to go back to sleep but I cannot.

We've all been asleep too long.

I con… Read full post »

A couple of weeks ago I received a private message from hatchetface saying that he was going to be in town and did I think it would be interesting to meet face to face without our avatars to intercede. My only condition was that he not bring his hatchet to the meet-up. We set… Read full post »