Hi! Gracie here. Can we talk? Yeah? Great! My sister, Joy, and I are taking over this blog. At least for today. Mom hasn’t written for a loooong time. She says she can’t figure out what to say. But we have a lot to say, so she told us to go for it. Okay, we will. Oh, here’s Joy. Hi, I’m Joy. I’m up here supervising the kitchen. Mainly, I’m on the lookout for MICE. […]
Note: This post originally ran on Veteran’s Day 2013. I am reposting it today without changes. My emotions remain the same. The facts remain the same—with the exception of the last sentence. I can no longer walk to the end of the street and see a farm. In the past 7 years, the Maples has grown to fill its available space. But that is another post for another day. My father, Carl Dierksen, tried very […]
I’m so glad you could come over. It’s been way, way too long since we’ve spent time together. Look, I have us set up here on the patio, safely distanced, and ready to enjoy today’s cooler weather. Won’t you join me? If we were having coffee… I would first of all ask you how you are. Because I really want to know. Because this question—which used to be a throw-away conversation starter— has a […]
To the reader: This is the last entry in a series in which I revisit earlier posts. Once again, I have chosen one that I think has something new to say in our current pandemic times. The month of November 2015 was brutal. Do you remember why? I didn’t. So let me remind you what was going on in the world at that time. In November 2015 — • In Paris, a series of suicide […]
Today I begin my second week at home, doing my own small part to combat the pandemic. I still haven’t tackled even one item on the list of household projects that I jotted down eight days ago. I always seem to find something more important to do. You see, I have a lot of things to figure out, and that takes up most of my mental energy. I keep asking myself questions—most of them unanswerable […]
It is March 19, 2020; I am four days into social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Life has been turned completely upside down. Most of us try to follow the new curve-flattening rules to protect ourselves and everyone else. But already, I yearn to go back to “normal,” assuming that the old normal will ever exist again. We can’t sleep, we stress eat, we have trouble concentrating. We either watch the news obsessively, or […]
Joy: Hi there, humans. It’s okay. You’re not bothering us. We’re awake, just lounging here. Wanna know something? A secret? Then come a little closer. Yeah, that’s better. You ready for the secret? Lean in nice and close so I can whisper it. People can’t tell us apart. I know. Crazy. Sisters are supposed to look alike, right? Sometimes humans can be so dense. Gracie: Joy, I love humans. ‘Specially Mom. What’s dense mean? Cuz […]
Groundhog Day became a major holiday here in Woodstock in 1993. That year marked the release of the film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, that was filmed largely in our town. But if you were paying close attention this year, there were hints that something bigger than usual might be happening. First, there were calendar-related clues. Take another look at the title of this post. Today’s date is a palindrome; it is the same whether read […]
The doctor tapped on the door of the examination room and walked in. He shook my hand as usual, then paused and said, “Caryl, what have you done?” It was a good question, and it came from a man who knows me well. Dr. C. has taken wonderful care of my cats since the ’80s. I consider him a friend as well as a veterinarian. That morning my friend was a bit perplexed, perhaps a […]
On Aug. 14, I lost my cat, Shadow, only four months after losing my other cat, Angie. I knew ahead of time that each was reaching her final days. I thought I had braced myself for transitioning to a home without the welcoming presence of a cat. But I was wrong. I had forgotten how utterly silent and lonely it would be. And no wonder. Angie had been with me since 2001; Shadow had been […]
Today, November 27, is circled in bright red on my calendar. It has been for months. You see, today is the release date for Kingdom of the Blind, book number 14 in Louise Penny’s series of Armand Gamache mysteries. Here’s how addicted I am to these books. I slept with my iPad on my nightstand last night. Immediately on waking up, I checked and found the ebook downloaded to my Kindle app, ready for my […]
It began as a 3-way chat on Messenger. It was a couple of weeks before my trip to visit Joe and Sylvia in Asheville, NC, and we were discussing plans for my stay. Sylvia and I were making decisions about places to visit and things to do. Then Joe jumped in. Wait. A set of questions about the novel I wrote?? I took a deep breath and typed: Yes, it turned out, that was exactly what he […]
Hi, readers… Long time, no see. Long time, no write. The ugly truth is that I haven’t blogged since July. Honestly, I don’t have a good reason for my absence. I’m not sure why I couldn’t get motivated to write. What I do know is that I’m back now. And it feels good. A few days ago, I returned from a delightful week visiting friends in Asheville, NC. Joe, Sylvia, and Bandit were my neighbors in […]
Thank you to the readers who have asked to see more photos from my recent cruise. In my previous post (immediately below this one), I shared my pictures from our day in Old Quebec City. Now we sail on to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. And while we do, this is a typical view from our ship, Holland America’s Veendam. Our first stop is Prince Edward Island, which is the smallest of the provinces […]
As I took my first few steps on the narrow cobblestone streets of Old Quebec City, fragments of a quote popped into my head. I wanted to share it with my traveling companions, but I couldn’t retrieve the exact sentence of dialogue from Our Town. It had been too long since I had taught or seen the play. As soon as I reboarded our cruise ship, I looked up Thornton Wilder’s words: Only it seems to […]
It has been widely publicized that today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. It is indeed a day to celebrate his heritage. His life and work have inspired countless people of all races, beliefs, and nationalities. Today is also the birth date of another influential Civil Rights activist who knew and worked with Dr. King. Dr. Maya Angelou, who also championed women’s rights, was born […]
Dear readers: I wrote and published this post four years ago. I am sharing it again as holiday nostalgia sweeps over me on this Easter weekend. My feelings and memories have not changed. Only one thing has; I lost Mom a year and a half ago. ••••• Do you feel it too? For me, holidays always bring back memories of the celebrations of my childhood. I can close my eyes today and see us so […]
After a long break, I’m returning to my online blogging class. Today’s assignment, my second-to-the-last, is a virtual coffee date. In this type of post, I am to share thoughts in the informal way I might if I were actually talking to a friend over a cup of coffee. So… I have brewed up two mugs of strong, hot Black Magic coffee. Let’s sit in my sunroom and chat. If we were having coffee […]
Today’s assignment is to recreate the events of a single day. This one will be easy, since I will draw on memories of my recent stay with my friend, Sue, in her rental condo in Orange Beach, AL I wake up when I wake up, without an alarm or obligation. I know without getting out of bed whether Sue is up before me. The first thing she does each morning is open the glass […]
I. April 20, 1999: It was a Tuesday, the end of a normal school day. I packed up the papers I was taking home to grade and locked my classroom. That year, due to a student enrollment that had outgrown our building, I was teaching in a mobile classroom on the front lawn of Woodstock High School. It was a short walk across the street to the parking lot and my car. I started the […]
Home Sweet Abbey 