In which we ask one question for month, over and over, to see how many ways it can be answered.
We had a potluck at church last evening. Leading up to the dinner, the kids asked: “What is a potluck?” and we delved into the realm of American food tradition, as well as word etymology! A fun lesson for 6 year olds! The conversation — and the many crock pots at dinner — inspired...
It is still a coming realization for me that I am my own person. Even when I was a little kid in a big family and I was deciding what I wanted to “be,” it was hard to imagine I could be just exactly who I wanted to be. Part of life is the never-ending...
I set the table with Clean, cut glasses, Christmas crackers Flatware. Before breakfast All the flat edges glimmer In anticipation. Do you ever wonder: What the hell is the point of Elizabeth’s blog? It’s this: details. It’s a place to read In The Details, as a way to understand ourselves, each other, the world. “Letters...
Number four child was TRYING to whisper in Jolly Old St. Nick’s ear at the Santa Village when she was interrupted. Elf: “WHICH PHOTO PACKAGE DID YOU BUY?!” the elf barked at us. Me: “We haven’t chosen one yet,” I said. “We wanted to get in line before it got too long.” Elf: “WHAT?!...
When I lived in Kansas City, I was single. This meant that I spent a great deal of my energy and mind space being frustrated and unhappy about my “alone”ness. Like most young women (and men too, I guess), I really wanted to find someone special to connect with, to be with, so long...
(This is a guest post from Paul Merrill, part of the If Only in My Dreams: Big Question Series.) Christmas means different things to different people. After 22 years of marriage, Heather and I are finally understanding how much our families influenced how we enjoy holidays. How many presents are under the tree? Do...
– Part of the December “If Only in My Dreams” series. Thanks.
In which I tried to explain to the kids that our little “artificial” tree is actually “real.” Existentialism 101 Me: We are putting up our tree this afternoon. Kid 1: Is it a real tree? Me: Well, yes, it is a real tree. A real tree in that it isn’t imaginary. Kid 1: No,...
At the post office, the hated post office, where lines greet me and awful racks of greeting cards Line walls, ignored. The post office and its Perfume of desperation. The place where scales and stamps sit in dusty corners Like aristocrats awaiting their bloody fate. The post office, doomed, because It is about PLACE...
Guest Post by Writer-Runner-Teacher Tricia Dowcett Whenever my mother asks me what we would like for Christmas, I always reply that I would prefer to do rather than to have. A show, a day in Boston, a trip to a museum. She will usually frown and insist that at Christmas, the kids should be able...
I want things handmade. I want a life devoid of BPA-worries. I want the holidays decorated in popcorn strings and toes of knee-high socks filled with sticky penny candy and tiny oranges. I want to have the hot cocoa, but not the packaging the dried chocolate-flavored granules come in. I want to make the...
What is the rush, Rima asks? What is the haste to make waste of Autumn? – Part of “If Only in My Dreams,” the December Series of The Big Question.
December is the month of dreams, of nostalgia, of memories, expectations, hopes and disappointments. We were all little children once… dreaming our dreams of light and mystery, wide awake under our covers. It doesn’t matter whether those covers were cotton or silk. We are still those children. Some of us still imagine the twinkling...
This is a guest post by author Jennifer Wilson in the BIG QUESTION series “What Does America Want?“ Her book “Running Away to Home” is released today. – To begin, a caveat: I’ve gotten around as a professional travel writer for the past 14 years, and I don’t have a solid blanket characterization of...
Last night, when the kids were tucked sweetly in footie pajamas and in bed, I started racing through a list of things I wanted to get done before I hit the hay myself. The list looked something like this: do dishes sort through 5 bins of summer clothes write blog post make contact with...
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