Monthly Archives: September 2016

Four ways to be sure it’s fall, without a calendar

This week, without fanfare, summer slipped quietly into fall. Judging by the weather, though, it’s hard to be sure. September so far has felt like a leisurely extension of our balmy summer. Though I worry about the implications of this warming trend, I admit I’m not missing the garden-killing frosts or sharp-edged evening temperatures I […]

Celebrating marriage at midlife and beyond

A lot of couples are celebrating impressive wedding anniversaries these days. Thirty years or more is pretty common among my circle of friends and acquaintances. But Douglas and I know people who have been married 40, 45, 50 years and longer. That’s a lot of accumulated wisdom, presumably, about the nature of intimacy, the importance […]

Losing a country cat

Our small, tiger-striped cat, Madeleine, hasn’t been seen for a week, and we fear the worst. In the year and a half she’s lived with us, we have come to appreciate her finer qualities, especially as compared to our cranky, disheveled senior cat, (M)Alice, who has been around forever. Madeleine was not a bright cat, […]