“Dread is when foreboding shows itself to be justified.  Something like foreboding is built into all fiction, I think.  Even Barbara Pym novels have a point where you think, ‘Is that altar cloth going to work or not?’ “

Joan works in the Special Care Unit of a nursing home; her residents live with advanced Alzheimer’s Syndrome and other forms of dementia.  The kids and I have been putting together some craft kits for the folks on the unit, who really like to make...

It’s cold and snowy out there.  And although we had tons of fun on Halloween, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I’m not feeling very festive.  In fact, I feel distinctly snuffle-y, and my feet are cold.  I hate scraping the ice off my...

It will be Halloween in just a couple of days, which means that it will be Tuxedo Boy’s birthday in just a couple of days.  Which means that on Saturday morning, after he marches in the Homecoming Parade with his band, and plays at the pre-game...

These are homemade “Mello-creme pumpkins.”  They are very cute in their pumpkin-y plumpness, aren’t they?  And don’t they have a rustic, artisanal quality rarely to be found in their bland, mass-produced cousins?  These are rich in butter, sweet...