They aren’t expensive frames. Plain black wood, the kind you have to sort through in the display racks at the drugstore, and check carefully to find a couple that aren’t scratched or dinged. After I’d put the two 8 by 10 prints in the frames, and set them on the mantel, I sat and looked at them … read more Pictures on the mantel
Tag: Mom
Zen and the art of office design
For many many years, I have had a divided self – torn between the practical and the spiritual, the creative and the logical. I’ve tried so many ways to work it – mostly, by giving a chunk of my time to “work” and another chunk to “art. I grew up seeing this division in the … read more Zen and the art of office design
I’ve just seen a face
Who’s that? Picasa knows – even after one glance. Facial recognition has been built into Google’s free photo editing software, Picasa, since 2009. It’s remarkably good. You type in a name on one picture of a person, and it instantly identifies and labels all your photos of that person. If Picasa isn’t certain who the person is in a particular photo, it … read more I’ve just seen a face
The King
Around town, they called him King. He was the only son of Louis Tyler, owner of a popular downtown store who served as mayor and played a silver coronet. The King was handsome. He had an air of smug certainty that life would go his way. It’s a photo I’d never seen before, a young man … read more The King
Exit stage left
When my parents died, it really wasn’t so bad to take care of their belongings. My three sisters and I did it in a couple of days. My parents lived very simply. They shared a single closet that was maybe 12 feet long for all their clothes. They had a collection of about 20 CDs, … read more Exit stage left
70 years of marriage
June 11, 1946, was a Tuesday. There were so many weddings that year, with all the GIs returning from the war – churches were booked solid. So Peg and Walt got married on a Tuesday morning at her local church, St. Joseph’s in Monroeville, Ohio. I wonder how many people took off from work to come … read more 70 years of marriage
I’m not who I thought I was
For many years, I’ve been proud to claim my German ancestry. The good qualities that Germans are known for – hard work, frugality, efficiency and organization – are ones that I like to see in myself. I’ve always bragged that I was German, on both sides, all the way back – unusual for an American whose ancestors immigrated in the 1830s … read more I’m not who I thought I was
Restoration work
My mother bought this bracelet 40 or 50 years ago, at a flea market or something. It’s sterling silver, from Mexico, and the stone is an amethyst. I always loved it. The stone had a fissure in it, which I thought was intriguing. Then Dad took some jewelry-making classes and replaced the amethyst with turquoise. It was … read more Restoration work
The mother of Mother’s Day
I was up late last night, pondering the meaning of Mother’s Day. I learned this, from National Geographic: It all started in the 1850s, when West Virginia women’s organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis held Mother’s Day work clubs to improve sanitary conditions and try to lower infant mortality by fighting disease and curbing milk contamination, according to … read more The mother of Mother’s Day
The color of invasion
There it is – all along the highway and byways, from Atlanta into the North Georgia mountains – that only-in-springtime color combination – lavender and lime green. It’s the palette of perfume, misty rain and thrusts of life. It’s the color of invasion. It’s the war of wisteria against the youngest, freshest leaves of trees. … read more The color of invasion