Pushing on a Rope
Terri S. Vanech
Full khaki jacket
If you should meet my husband sometime soon, please know that I did not dress him. I know the stupid khaki jacket he’s wearing has seen better days. I know it’s missing a button and that its collar, cuffs and waistband are fraying. I’m well aware that the elbows are no longer khaki despite my best … Continue reading
Help! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Anyone else look at the calendar this past week and realize just how close Christmas is? I haven’t stopped hyperventilating since I noticed. Not that it should be a surprise. Christmas comes every year after all. And it’s not like there weren’t clues: Even before everyone had their power and cable restored following Superstorm Sandy, … Continue reading
The Hostess with the mostest
Twinkies. Yodels. Ring Dings. Hear the names and you can’t help but smile — and remember the snacks and lunchbox treats of your youth. I know I do. Surely I scarfed down more Devil Dogs, Fruit Pies and Coffee Cakes than I did the apples and bananas in my school lunch (sorry, Mom). Like others hearing … Continue reading
Talkin’ about rap music
Catherine had a doctor’s appointment several towns away today, which meant I spent a lot of time in the car with her, sitting in traffic as she jumped from radio station to radio station in search of a better song. She favors hip-hop and rap music — a preference I still can’t understand — so … Continue reading
No good deed goes unpunished
With Catherine and Basil helping to deliver supplies to some Jersey Shore communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy last Saturday, I took advantage of the day to cook up a storm. I filled the fridge with healthy home-cooked meals, trying to use up a lot of the food in house since we’ll soon have to make … Continue reading
Ready for a frightfully good time
Halloween has come to Greenwich. Really. I am not drinking or otherwise incapacitated. Today is the day decreed by our town’s lawmakers as All Hallows Eve 2012– a 12-day-late consolation prize on account of Hurricane Sandy. I do not know if a lot of kids will come to the door, but I fervently hope so. The … Continue reading
From Stamford … with love
I got what I can only describe as an early Christmas present this week: The gift of hope and brotherhood shining like a beacon amid the insanity of a million crazy, stressful bits of life — not the least of which has been the weather-driven destruction we’ve seen here in the Northeast. Moved by the … Continue reading
Under a blanket of white
Two weeks before Thanksgiving and already there’s snow here in southwestern Connecticut — a freak winter storm just 10 days after a devastating hurricane. Mother Nature must really have her knickers in a twist. As a rule, I like the snow — certainly better than the heat of summer. This makes me odd, I know, … Continue reading
It was my moment — and she missed it
It took a hurricane, but I finally got Catherine to willingly accompany me to the Jazzercise Center of Southwestern Connecticut, where I teach a couple times a week. Given the choice between a dark, cold house and watching Mom in all her embarrassing glory, the choice was clear — as long as she could rely … Continue reading
Surfin’ safari
Funny how quickly new routines can be broken, how we return, boomerang-like to our narrow comfort zones. We hunkered down in front of the television last night — still enthralled by our ability to see something more than black space. I looked around for something good to watch, then picked a program. Basil sat down … Continue reading
Pushing on a Rope 