Monthly Archives: July 2013
Facing loss, preserving life
Originally posted on Naomi's Story:
Naomi, Sage, and Chaussette by the stream at her house, early summer 2013 Having an infected tooth pulled is bad enough, but promptly fighting a round of pneumonia is another thing, especially when one is 93 years old. The pneumonia battle is almost an annual thing for my grandma…
The Unlikely Yucca
For reasons now inexplicable to me, I’d decided it was a good idea to put a yucca plant in my circle garden when, after receiving my very first gardening catalogue, I went on a manic spend-and-plant spree. I planted it in 2005 even though a plant typically associated with the desert (at least by everyone […]
Return of the bees
I’d been disconcerted by the silence of the fruit trees this spring, although judging from the number of baby apples currently swelling, the bumblebees and native bees clearly made up for the lack of honeybees this year. But apparently the recently-blooming motherwort plants sang to them with a floral siren song, because they’re now swarming […]
The Imagination Face
A few days ago, my son Sage solemnly informed me that he could make trees and houses talk in his head. “That’s because you have a good imagination,” I told him. “I do NOT have an imagination!” he informed me indignantly. “But,” I replied, bemused, “an imagination is what lets you make the trees and […]
Naomi’s Independence Day
Originally posted on Naomi's Story:
Naomi on the cusp of independence Naomi and her brothers had always been close, but when their mother’s death left them rattling around their ramshackle house, underemployed and always scrabbling for money, they realized that destiny called them elsewhere. Her brothers went their separate ways—Jimmy to join the Navy,…
The New Jersey Belle
Originally posted on Naomi's Story:
This isn’t QUITE the skirt Grandma described, but it was the closest I could find–and the model’s attitude is a good reflection of hers! 14-year-old Naomi swept through the hallway of her school with the grace and confidence of a princess. Her errand was mundane, but her skirt was…
Of Bait and Banks
A growing awareness of mortality, the first-time sense that she’s OLD, and most of all, the failing eyesight that banishes her from the books she loves: All of these weights are combining to sink my 93-year-old grandmother’s spirits. She was home alone most of the day yesterday, her solitude only interrupted by a visit from […]
Homage to my Mother
Mother’s Day is long past, but I need to take this opportunity to sing the praises of my mother, the Wonder Matriarch who magically transformed an otherwise hellish week into a surprisingly gratifying one. In order to understand the magnitude of her achievement, I must first sum up the aforementioned hellish week. Here goes: Monday’s […]
Moments of Unexpected Beauty 