My husband tells me on the telephone, while I am 900-miles away in New Jersey, that hey, something got in the coop and got a bird. “Feathers everywhere,” he said. We were down to three guineas, from the original 12, plus two babies who hatched last July. (They’ve passed on with the help of cars [...]

I am not sure why I am surprised to find Spanish language goods in local stores. Maybe because when I was growing up, the Spanish seemed insulated to the Miami and North Jersey zips where I lived out a bilingual life. I think it was two years ago that I got all sentimental in the [...]

A post for Sundays in My City, an Unknown Mami regular feature. Visit her site to see other lovely spots around the globe. I love it because it encourages me to show you the wonder of Boonie Life. There’s a park not far from our home. It is where Maria crawled around in the grass [...]

Do you know that all I want to do these days is sit near a lazy Tennessee creek with this borrowed Boxer-mix puppy? Is she not heaven? The creek is a few miles from us and runs through the front property of a friend’s house — same friend whose house was flooded in May when [...]

A lot of people are sad and ticked the national media, and the country as a whole, doesn’t get the magnitude of what has happened here. Do you now know, I am curious? Did you see Anderson Cooper last week? Do you realize that an entire 52-county region flooded, that street after street after street [...]

Until this weekend, my spring had been enchanted. The dog and I have been strolling the woods for the necessary breaks, and though dreaded at the night hour, the early morning walks have given me a chance to watch the trees leaf and the wildflowers bloom. I have cursed the ticks, but have drunk in [...]

I am truly wondering why some parents would choose not to diapers their babies, and instead “intuit” when their tiny infants need to eliminate. I have been chasing the new puppy, Buddy, around for five days now, making sure he makes it to the wee wee pads. A whole lot of intuiting going on here, [...]

In the last days of 1989, when I was 22, I wrote a newspaper story quoting experts predicting the trends for the 1990s. Good-bye greedy and mean 1980s, the experts said. Hello, kindness toward man and old person. Ha! What the hell do experts know? And, certainly, those shoulder-pad, big-hair wearing experts of 1989 did not know [...]

We had a dinner party for 10 adults and 8 children. Among us: A vegetarian who eats fish. A vegetarian who does not eat fish. A man who cannot eat dairy. A man allergic to meat. A woman allergic to corn. A child who is allergic to nuts. A child who was once allergic to [...]

So, a week or so ago, Maria was hanging in the living room with her father. She asked him for the jar of buttons I keep for her crafts. This is what she came up with while he dozed. Lovely, si? Wishing you joy, creativity, love and prosperity and fun this Season and in the [...]