I’ve come to realize that western Pennsylvania does not have perfect weather very often, which is why when a perfect night like last night offered itself up, I jumped on it. The sky was a moody navy blue with puffs of cottony clouds that let a few stars peek through. As I’ve mentioned at least a million times, fall is my favorite time — with temperatures in the…
I’m coping with Covid and unemployment with exercise. Everyday I hike the local hills. I stop just before I get to the freeway overpass, then turn around and go back. I once walked under it just to prove I could do it, but I know the next time I do the mother of all earthquakes will strike and all they’ll find will be a little thigh fat. Ever…
I am one of the lucky ones. I get to have two of my three kids for Thanksgiving, and given the state of things today, that’s pretty great. I can’t wait for life to change for the better, but so far, 2020 has been inconvenient, but not tragic. Again, I know I’m lucky. I’ve had time to think, write, and figure out my next steps. I’m so very…
Life is all backwards now. People who used to have to be dragged into the kitchen are baking and cooking up masterpieces, and people like me, who love to cook, can barely lift a spatula because I have no one to feed. Cooking for myself is nice, but it’s the sharing that’s the fun part. I can make my favorite pasta with shallots, fresh tomato, basil and whipping…
Every morning a small, gray bird plants himself outside my bedroom window and starts a high pitched chirp, like an avian Paul Revere warning the British are coming. His ear-splintering chirps sound like a chisel hitting a brick or a stone. I call him the Chisel Bird. I lay in bed thinking, There’s Dad. He’s come back as a bird with a chirp so loud he can wake…
I think I might be becoming an actual Californian. It's only taken me 40 years.…