The new year began with a day bereft of human contact, save for the online kind. At midnight, there was the sound of distant fireworks and gunfire. I’ve often likened it to the sound of artillery shelling. I wonder how people from Sarajevo or Aleppo would react. I didn’t even sleep late today. But IContinue reading “Winter Misanthropy”
Category Archives: Life
On the Year That Was, 2017
With 2017 drawing to a close and 2018 about to begin, I decided to take a look back at 2016 and spotlight the best (or most significant) blog post of each month. John Hurt, a Reminisence – Sir John Hurt died, aged 77, of pancreatic cancer. I can’t say that what I wrote was profound,Continue reading “On the Year That Was, 2017”
A Grocery Store Encounter
I was at the grocery store yesterday — my stock of tea at the office is much diminished and needed replenishment — and, like usual, I asked the cashier, an older woman, probably in her sixties, how she was. (When I say, “like usual,” it’s a habit born of years of retail. I try notContinue reading “A Grocery Store Encounter”
Christmas Cards for Strangers
I walked into Dallastown this morning and mailed over a dozen Christmas cards, all to people I don't know and have never met. Madonna and child stamps, my favorite Christmas stamps every year. The recipients are all distant cousins, all descendants of my great-great-grandfather through his eldest three daughters, two of whom I had noContinue reading “Christmas Cards for Strangers”
Adventures in the Kitchen with Cranberry Relish
As a long-time NPR listener, every Thanksgiving I’ve heard about “Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish,” and this year was no exception. Stamberg made it with her granddaughter, and the granddaughter’s verdict was, “I’m never tasting it again.” I’ve never made it, I’ve never had it (as I think I’d remember a cranberry relish made with onionContinue reading “Adventures in the Kitchen with Cranberry Relish”
Coloring Christmas
After work I stopped at the grocery store, the Giant off Queen Street, because, obviously, I needed some groceries. Bread, peanut butter, milk, that sort of thing. Life’s essentials. While I was there, I browsed the magazine rack. There, on the bottom shelf, was a row of adult coloring books. Or, more accurately, magazines. I’mContinue reading “Coloring Christmas”
Life in Yoe
Yoe is a town wedged between two hills. One hill faces vaguely northwest, the other hill faces vaguely southeast. A creek runs between the two hills, and in the flat plain between them George Street runs from Red Lion to York. A century ago, the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad line ran through there as well;Continue reading “Life in Yoe”
Dinner Time Disappointments
Ever see a recipe online that you think looks good, but when you make it for dinner it’s really quite disappointing? Yeah, that was me, last night. I won’t go into the gruesome details of what it was, but here are the essential facts… Facebook shows people pages their friends have liked on the chanceContinue reading “Dinner Time Disappointments”
A Vacation Day in the District
Thursday I took a vacation day. I went to Washington, DC for the day. I hadn’t been in the District since March for Shamrock Fest (though I had been to a baseball game in Bethesda at the beginning of August), and I hadn’t made it to a Nationals game yet this season, and I’d beenContinue reading “A Vacation Day in the District”
A Distant Family Tragedy
People wrote differently a century ago than we do today. I do not mean the mechanics of writing, though yesterday’s manual typewriters and and fountain pens worked differently than today’s word processors and predictive text and text-to-speech. We write faster than our ancestors did because our technology has improved. What I mean is that theContinue reading “A Distant Family Tragedy”