The question that he frames in all but words Is what to make of a diminished thing. –from The Oven Bird by Robert Frost The majority of my friends no longer have a living mother to celebrate with today. I know that. I am grateful that Mom is alive at 93 and that she was able to spend a few hours with me this afternoon. But— Mom was diagnosed with mild dementia about seven years […]
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 clearly. It is Easter. There is my family—Mom, Dad, Craig, Aunt Clara, Uncle Jack, and me—all in our farm house, sitting around the dining room table. It is set with Mom’s best china and the silverware that she kept in a velvet-lined wooden box except for special […]
Yes, I know I’ve written two similar posts, but I can’t help adding another. Suddenly, Woodstock seems to be on everyone’s radar. I can’t say it often enough: this is a great place to live. Here’s the latest honor to come our way. In its April 2014 issue, Chicago magazine published the results of their intensive search for the 12 best places to live in the Chicago area. Woodstock was selected as one of those […]
For Ann, it was all about her piano. She was ready to downsize and to live on one level when she came to look at homes at Maples at the Sonatas. She had an open mind—except for one deal-breaker requirement. The home had to have a living room large enough for the seven-foot grand piano that she would be bringing with her. Ann found the perfect space for her piano in the Canterbury model. By […]
It’s almost here! Paddy O’Bear, along with his wild Irish rose, wishes you an early Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Mardi Gras. Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll, indeed. Mardi Gras, as you probably know, is French for Fat Tuesday. And that is the day to observe the tradition of eating rich, fatty foods the last night before the fasting of the Lenten season, which begins today on Ash Wednesday. Here at Maples at the Sonatas, we have another tradition—that of turning minor holidays into major celebrations. So it was that a couple […]
That phrase has been stuck in my mind for a while now. The January-type weather that began tormenting us in November appears ready to last into March. Endless snow events and eternally frigid temperatures have tag-teamed us for far too long. It gets downright depressing when there’s no end in sight. Nowadays we talk about cabin fever and seasonal affective disorder. But Shakespeare said it better when he opened Richard III with these words: “Now […]
Before we left for Columbus, I thought I understood what an honor it would be to speak to the 80 or so Wilcox staff members gathered at their first annual conference. But I didn’t really comprehend what a gift I had been given until later. It began sinking in after my presentation, when Ember came up to make an announcement and stopped to hug me on her way to the podium. When I saw Carol, […]
This is the title slide of a presentation I’ll be making at the Wilcox Communities National Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. Proud, honored, scared. This is how I’m feeling as I finish practicing my remarks and begin packing my suitcase. Oh, and as I keep checking the weather. We are under a snow advisory tomorrow. Yes, another one. Just before Christmas, Ember, who is executive assistant to Jamie Wilcox, called and asked if I […]
Anyone want some free snow? We have more than enough, thank you! After getting over 60 inches this winter, we have run out of room to stack it. So our snow removal company, Langton, is “relocating” it today. It’s time to call in the heavy equipment, much to the delight of Shirley’s little granddaughters who have a closeup view of the operation.
When I began writing Home Sweet Abbey a year ago, I had a lot to learn about blogging. A half-day workshop I had taken a few months earlier had hit the high points. But there was so much left to learn that I kept studying to try to improve my craft. And I’m still doing that. One of the first things I learned is that a well-written article is not necessarily enough to attract readers. […]
A year ago tomorrow, on February 9, 2013, I took a deep breath, and another, crossed my fingers and toes, and then clicked on the Publish button that launched this blog. Home Sweet Abbey went live with my first post, My Journey Home, and a short About the Author article. I had drafts of two more posts ready to go and a list of perhaps 7 or 8 ideas to draw on beyond that. I […]
It’s a new month today, but it’s the same old weather. More snow falling. Another cold, sun-deprived day. Slippery surfaces waiting to trick you into falling. Yes, the winter that began in November — even before the first official day of winter — shows no signs of letting up on us. Most of our days are still the hunkering-down kind that I’ve already described in two posts on this blog. And yet— Our neighborhood is […]
I moved to Woodstock, IL, in 1970, at age 23, for a good reason. I had landed my first adult job, as an English teacher at Woodstock High School. Woodstock was, at the time, a town of 10,000 people. Located 10 miles south of the Wisconsin border, it was — and I guess to some degree still is — more rural than suburban. We are the second to the last stop on the northwestern commuter […]
I ended a recent post with this phrase: my neighbors, who also happen to be my friends. That statement remains true, even more so. In the past few days, I’ve learned that my neighbors are also my family. Here’s how that happened. A friend and I stepped out of a movie theater Friday afternoon into a hard, driving rain. But there was no noticeable ice, and the forecast had been for temperatures to rise. Three […]
By now, you may have seen this morning’s ugly numbers in Woodstock, IL: temperature -18 wind chill -43 Today we have no school, no public library, no garbage pickup, no shopping in my favorite stores. And at Maples at the Sonatas: no Wilcox staff, no construction workers, no potential buyers. Almost no people or vehicles to be seen outside. I’ve lost track of how much snow we have on the ground because it has fallen […]
… from Home Sweet Abbey in snowy Woodstock, IL.
The Christmas spirit descended on our community yesterday in a most delightful way. Forty-five Maples at the Sonatas neighbors had gathered in our clubhouse by 2 pm, when the Dickens Carollers arrived to perform a concert of Christmas songs. This is just part of the audience before the music began. The Dickens Carollers is a professional group from the Woodstock area that has been performing since 1982. I have enjoyed their music many times and […]
Ten days ago, I brought a new member into the family living in my Abbey. Her name is Shadow, and she is Mom’s cat. For three weeks after Mom had a stroke, Shadow continued living in the assisted living apartment they shared. I stopped by twice a day to take care of her and spend some time. A friend of ours also visited daily. But when I learned that Mom would not be able to […]
“I do not know which to prefer… The blackbird whistling Or just after.” These lines by poet Wallace Stevens sum up my feelings about holidays in general and today in particular. The feeling of gratitude, the feasting, and the fellowship of Thanksgiving make it one of my favorite holidays. But equally as much, I savor the time when the activity winds down and the guests leave. That is when I quietly reclaim my space. With […]
Home Sweet Abbey 