Big bad changes are afoot in my old neighborhood. Dismay has led me to some strange places, including a children’s picture book, a local history text, and a 2009 Pixar movie. The picture book is Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House. Published in 1942, it…

Not long ago, I stumbled onto an insight. It came to me as I descended the stairs at home in the dim early-autumn light. Preoccupied with random thoughts, this question failed to enter my mind: You think your right foot just landed on the last…

When my husband and I went house shopping years ago, each of us had a mental checklist. Bob wanted a spot on the main floor for his weighty electronic keyboard. He was tired of lugging it up and down stairs for every music gig. I…

Unlike American movie stars and models, as I age, I’m not going to pretend that 65 is the new 37. Time is marching on, and it takes a little bit away every day, every year, no matter how we try to smooth things over, tighten…

When I was expecting my daughter, and then my son, the information I received came from two sources – a well-thumbed Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, and whatever my Lamaze teacher told me about delivering my child naturally yet (LOL) painlessly. Mom didn’t offer…

Just last week, a good friend of mine was rear-ended. He was okay, just a few scrapes and bruises, and the guy who hit him apologized profusely, offered to pay for the damage, and even took him home. The thing is, the guy who ran…

Cigarettes were everywhere, when I was growing up. Mom and Dad both smoked, and so did our relatives. Ashtrays and lighters abounded. We kept stick matches for when Grandpa came to visit, the better to light his pipe with. I must have reeked of smoke…

Children’s books have been very much on my mind lately. My son and his wife are expecting twins, and the invitation to her baby shower urged everyone to give a book instead of a Hallmark card. What a great idea. As a librarian, a two-story…

I saw a new doctor last month. She prescribed two new medicines for my headaches, which visit me with faithful regularity. One is a preventive, and time will tell if it prevents anything. I am, as they say, titrating up, taking a bit more every…

I was looking for old things, things that meant a lot to me. Because I do this more often than I ought to, at some point I typed up a list, a house inventory, so I would know without looking which closet holds my old…

I used to love road trips. I always stocked up on candy just before leaving, and now I’m not sure if that was a way to celebrate the trip, or to survive along the way. Whatever the mission, I knew I had to visit a…

Today I broke the stove. But first, I cleaned it. It had been a while, so this morning, after I fried my egg, I sprayed the oven with the supposedly no-fume cleaner, then dashed off to work, knowing I would come home to a hard…

Once I bought a brand-new car for cash. Well, not a wad of actual bills; I wrote a big check. It was a bittersweet moment, since the money came from my mom’s estate, but I figured she and Dad would have been happy that I…

I got fed up with “Downton Abbey” midway through the last season. I’d grown weary of the suspense – Would Mary find a mate? Would Daisy find a life? Would Thomas stop lurking in the shadows? Who cared? Bob and I had been dedicated fans…

According to Facebook – the We Never Sleep! social extravaganza that has so many of us entangled in its sticky clutches – I have been a mostly willing participant since 2009. In that time, I have been glad I joined, happy to connect with old…

My son called me from his grocery store in Omaha last summer. I’d given him an ice cream maker for Christmas, and he was searching for the whole milk his recipe called for. Finally, we figured it out. “Is this it?” he asked. “Vitamin D…

I got a smarter-than-me phone for my birthday, late last year. My husband figured it was time one of us took the plunge, so there I was, trying to make sense of the thing one cold December night. I had to learn ASAP, because my…

Sometimes, a writer gets tired. Sometimes, a writer needs a crutch. I’m feeling a little lame this week, so the crutch I’m going to use is a questionnaire. Dating from the late 19th century, the quiz that came to be known as the Proust Questionnaire…

A few weeks ago, my old friend Candy posted a photo on Facebook. I was delighted by the picture and didn’t recall ever having seen it. Then I read what Candy had written: “Circle of friends forever. Taken at one of our many slumber parties…

Just in time for Christmas, scientists have discovered a surefire way to fight impulse shopping. The trick is simple: when you see something you suddenly feel you must have, think instead of all you’re grateful for. The emotion of gratitude can, when called to mind…