Another Father’s Day rolls around and although I have my reservations about commercial Hallmark themed celebrations, I guess it is good to have a Mother’s Day, a Veteran’s Day, a remembrance day because perhaps it does draw your attention to someone specific in this crazy kaleidoscope vision we live in. So on Father’s Day, I … Continue reading Another Father’s Day →

I am not superstitious. I am educated, have a college degree. I understand superstitions and actually respect them. Don’t need to walk under a ladder, don’t have to step on a crack. Childhood memories, childish pranks engrained some simple ones in the ethos. I am aware of energy in the universe, both positive and negative. … Continue reading I am not superstitious →

I have stood at the abyss The edge of the volcano To look down and see a whirlpool Draining down to a cauldron A cauldron which boils and bubbles I did study Macbeth A cauldron with fragments of darkness The words I should not have said The actions I should not have done The silences … Continue reading The Abyss →

A Washer’s Tale My clothes washer broke. Not the first time. It is fifteen years old and has seen its share of crazy laundry. I pushed the power button and lights turned on. I loaded clothes and detergent and pressed the start button. No sound, no soft whoosh of water starting the magical cleaning process. … Continue reading A Washer’s Tale →

Why do they call us back? What are the ties that make them beautiful? The gleaming river, the forested bluffs, The long, winding highway. They call it “God’s country”. When the sun rises over Lake Pepin And the dark green woods form a canopy overhead We feel the call of the past. So many times … Continue reading Landscapes of memory →

The little plateaus of life There are times when life reaches a plateau. I remember one such time. Grown up, married, education complete, two kids, one of each gender, house, dog, cars, friends, less angst and somewhat structured rhythms to life. I had taken time off from work, was teaching as an adjunct professor and … Continue reading The Little Plateaus →

I am a patchwork doll Made of exquisite colored pieces of experience Not a  patchwork quilt that lays flat Before it cocoons a sleeper But a doll, bumpy and crooked With bulges and corners and recesses Button eyes of curiosity, smile of wisdom Multilayered skirt of a multilayered life A mosaic of colors A fragment … Continue reading Patchwork Doll →

Everything changes and yet everything stays the same. We evolve with experience, but some inner core keeps calling us back to where we began. The things that do change are often the material – houses, clothing, cars, cities, countries, the world. What does not change is who we are. We have our prisms, our worldviews … Continue reading Everything changes →

It is a common saga. One should get used to it. Everyone has a car. Everyone learns to drive. The stories are legion.  My father did not believe in women driving. No reason for raised eyebrows. A different time, a different orientation. My mother did not drive. She survived in the US by the grace of the church ladies. She survived in … Continue reading Baby you can drive my car…… →

A year ago, my friend Rani called to say her husband’s childhood classmate had moved to town with his second wife (the first was divorced). This gentleman, call him Raj, was a doctor and his wife was Leena. They met on match.com and were both mature, he was sixty, she was forty five and they … Continue reading The First Wife →