Recently I handed Annie a letter entitled “To my future wife.” In my awkward thirteen-year-old cursive I had written: “I don’t know who you are or what you look like. Why will you not come to me and identify yourself? Are you now a giggly 7th grader, barely old enough to wear a bra? Where […]
A few weeks ago I finished painting the guest bedroom. As usual, when I paint I listen to music. In this case I chose Little Richard’s Greatest Hits. It was energizing to be painting to Tutti Fruitty, Long Tall Sally and Good Golly Miss Molly. I could feel the music ricocheting around my head, then […]
According to Nagi Maehashi’s recipe website, you should never soak, or even rinse, basmati rice before cooking because doing so “makes it waterlogged and makes a mushy rice problem”. And use a rice-to-water ratio of 1:1.5—more water makes the mushy rice problem even worse. Finally, “do not fluff with fork since this will break the […]
It was the first meeting of the discussion section of my freshman philosophy course. The graduate assistant rather pompously informed us, “As you read the works assigned in this course, all sorts of thoughts will be triggered. Undoubtedly, you’ll believe that you’ve come up with some unique philosophical insights. But no matter what you think […]
I kept in touch with only a few of my college buddies. But no matter where we were living, fifteen years after graduation I was still in regular contact with Jamie. One day when I was living in North Carolina and he was in Chicago, I got a letter from Jamie—this was before the days […]
Our trailcam is trained on the enclosure in the upper field where we bury our compost. Every night it records the presence of coyotes, sometimes one, sometime a little pack of three sibs, munching away on banana peels and carrot tops and onion skins. Whoever believes that coyotes are strict carnivores apparently forgot to inform […]
After my morning shower I grab the squeegee and carefully scrape down all the surfaces. The theory is that this will lead to less water spotting and perhaps prevent mold growth. But as I scraped away the other day (an activity I find quite burdensome) I wondered if I was actually doing anything useful. On […]
If there are fifty ways to leave your lover, there are a million ways to meet your Maker. Some are common, some rare. Many years ago I cut an article out of the newspaper reporting a freak accident in Page, Arizona. James and Adalene Beckwith were placidly motoring along, parallel to the shore of Lake […]
“Why do anything at all?” my daughter asked. Though it was a very reasonable question it still startled me since I’d not considered that option. We were standing at the bottom of the set of steps that led to the upper garden area (“the back forty,” we called it). The twenty steps were made of […]
About five hours into the flight from London to Boston a voice came over the speakers: “If there’s a doctor or other medical personnel on board, please make yourself known to a flight attendant.” Unlike many doctors who seem to dread such an announcement, I always welcomed one. Not only did providing medical care make […]