My mom helped me with a reupholstering project this week. But this one has a backstory. After he retired from politics, after decades as burgess and mayor of his town, my grandfather was superintendent of a state-run nursing home for the indigent elderly. The people who lived there had no other options. Few had anyContinue reading “Recovered”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
September 7 Writer Birthdays
1434 – Janus Pannonius, Croatian-Hungarian poet, writer, diplomat, judge, and Catholic priest who is considered the most significant Renaissance poet in Hungary. 1707 – George-Louis Leclerc (Comte de Buffon), influential and prolific French natural-history writer, naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopedia writer; of his 36-volume Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, it has been said, “Written inContinue reading “September 7 Writer Birthdays”
Spy Rock
We were in the Blue Ridge Mountains over the weekend, staying at a cabin not far from the Appalachian Trail. On Saturday we set out on a hike to Spy Rock, a point on the trail in Virginia with a panoramic view of mountains and valleys. We planned to search for a few Geocaches inContinue reading “Spy Rock”
Masks Are Back
In May, I warned that the CDC’s loosening of mask mandates for vaccinated Americans was an ill-advised decision that would cause an increase in covid-19 cases. It did. The virus’s new Delta variant has taken hold in this country; close to 90 percent of new cases are caused by the Delta variant, which is manyContinue reading “Masks Are Back”
Pepino Returns
After dealing with several mice in the house, we were finally convinced that we had succeeded in getting rid of them. We hadn’t seen or heard a mouse in weeks. And then, on Saturday night, I walked into the kitchen to see Pepino scurrying across the floor to disappear under the refrigerator. Damn. Bob saidContinue reading “Pepino Returns”
February 3 Writer Birthdays
1612 – Samuel Butler, English poet, satirist, translator, and artist; he is best known for the satirical novel Erewhon and the semi-autobiographical Bildungsroman The Way of All Flesh, published posthumously in 1903, both of which are still in print, but he also examined subjects including Christian philosophy and Italian art, and made prose translations ofContinue reading “February 3 Writer Birthdays”
The Curious Incident of the Bug in the Night-Time
About 2 am, my son’s voice interrupted my drift into sleep. “Mom,” he called from the sofabed outside our room in our weekend rental apartment, “There’s a wasp in here.” Thus began the Curious Incident of the Bug in the Night-Time. A wasp seemed unlikely on a subfreezing night in late January, but we wokeContinue reading “The Curious Incident of the Bug in the Night-Time”
Best Books of 2020: New Friends
Yesterday I posted to say I’d completed my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge by achieving my goal of reading 130 books last year. I’d been asked which was my favorite. I can’t possibly name only one favorite. In fact, I realized I needed separate categories for the old favorites I re-read in 2020 and the bestContinue reading “Best Books of 2020: New Friends”
Friday Five: Old School
I don’t officially participate in Friday Five, a blog prompt that provides a list each week of five questions on one theme. But every now and then I hear about the questions and find them interesting. This is one of those times! These questions were the prompt for a few weeks ago. The topic: ThingsContinue reading “Friday Five: Old School”
October 12 Writer Birthdays
1810 – Dionísia Gonçalves Pinto (pen name Nísia Floresta Brasileira Augusta), Brazilian educator, translator, writer, and poet who is considered the “first Brazilian feminist”; she was one of the first women to publish her work in newspapers in Brazil, and also wrote a book defending the rights of women, Native Americans, and slaves. 1875 –Continue reading “October 12 Writer Birthdays”
The Petrini Page 