As with writing, where my characters develop themselves and the story ends up telling itself, I’m discovering in my painting that the apple and the jug and the cylinder and the blossoms and the thorned stems of the persimmon tree emerge fully formed from light...
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On International Women’s Day, the girls of Sola—and those who are left behind—are at two extremes of the spectrum. We should never lose sight of how fortunate we are to be where we are on that spectrum, regardless of how far we still have to...
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At every stage, I was sure I had arrived at an understanding of how it all works. It was as simple as accepting that each generation is born, takes its place in the world, and then passes from view. But, there is much we cannot...
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The only way to keep going is to keep improving, for as long as we have breath. It’s who we are and what we do. What being human is all about....
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She wants to paint a pumpkin so that it matches the colorful white ghost costume she plans to wear for Halloween. At three, she doesn’t know that white and colorful are mutually exclusive. I can only imagine what she thinks Halloween is all about. But...
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In the midst of the coronavirus panic, I had done some age-inappropriate exercise and ripped something in my knee. It had been swollen and tender for several months. Finally, this morning I sat down with my physician to evaluate the results of yesterday’s knee MRI. “You’ve...
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In ways my grandparents and parents could never have envisioned, I have become my great-grandfather. I now know what the wisest among us mean when they say that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Whether iambic pentameter or free verse, there is a...
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A few college kids gather at the frat house across the road to celebrate their graduation. They are wild. They bounce a basketball rhythmically against a wall, nonstop, for hours. Shrieks of laughter emanate from the windows. Doors slam. They play music I don’t understand...
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I haven’t written much lately. Instead, I’ve been struggling to write about life in March and April, 2020. I thought I was trying to give comfort to others, but in truth, my struggle has been to comfort myself, which I think is the same struggle...
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Every fall I stand in my garden in the Boston suburbs and plan my spring plantings. I decide which varieties of tulips and allium to plant, what colors will look best, and where to plant them. I consider which varieties are taller and which shorter;...
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