Whenever we’ve gone to Atlanta, our first stop has always been Miller Union. Usually that means lunch, because it’s only at mid-day when the restaurant serves its homemade ice cream sandwiches, cut into squares from a great big pan and wrapped in tissue paper. For a plant-eater like me, Miller Union is an absolute delight, […]
Category Archives: General News
Storytelling
Brad and Megan stopped by. They were on their way from Brooklyn to Brad’s parents’ house in Somerset County. They stood on one side of the fence in our small front yard, and we stood on the other. Hilary gave them two avocados and a bottle of hand sanitizer. I tried to give them a […]
Walking into walls
The sun shone, the temperature was mild, and Hilary wanted to go for a walk. We hadn’t been outdoors for days. We discussed a few other options: opening all the windows, a bicycle ride (but where?), a drive to South Mountain Reservation. But South Mountain Reservation is closed. We put on our coats and our […]
Another Sunday sermon
Even for nonbelievers, a church service can be a powerful experience. A good service can change your eye level from the gutter to the heavens. It can put you in contact with your community, and with the stories that we tell to remind ourselves that we’re human beings. If churchgoing is part of your life, […]
The cruelest month
Last night, via videoconference, we played Castles Of Burgundy. This was done at Michael’s insistence — he felt we all needed a game. He rigged up his iPad as a monitor and aimed his laptop at himself so we could see what he was doing. We made our moves virtually, according to the honor system, […]
Far East, far out
You may believe that the White House is in an indefensible position. They don’t agree. Or maybe deep down they do, but they’ll do what they can to hang on to power, even as they’ve proven, decisively, that they don’t know what to do with it when they get it. Deflection has been the name […]
Getting away
By text, Steven tells us that he braved the crowded aisles at Whole Foods because he missed New York City. This becomes especially poignant when you realize that Steven lives in New York City. Not in an outerborough, either: his little flat is on Delancey Street, right in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge. For […]
It’s up to you
A little more than one month ago, we visited New York City by train. We went to the Downtown Eataly to get the focaccia Barese that is just about my favorite thing in the world to eat: checkerboard-sized squares of bread with oil, olives, and cherry tomatoes. I can’t remember what else we bought. We […]
Powerlessness
In the spring of 2007, our cat got sick. She stopped eating, and wandered aimlessly around our flat in circles, as if she’d been struck. I didn’t know what to do. Uma the Cat had been with Hilary ever since she’d retrieved her from a Baltimore gutter during a downpour in 1991. She was tiny, […]
Reflections on a grey day
At the tail end of March, George called. He told me that he felt his life had been reduced to a frustrating Commodore-64 style text adventure in which he was limited to simple commands: get groceries, use sanitizer, check inventory, sleep. He is riding it out in Western Brooklyn, on the banks of the Gowanus, […]