When my friend Connie was about eight-and-a-half months pregnant for the first time, a group of us decided to give her a luncheon and baby shower. In addition to a gift, each of us was to bring a note in a sealed envelope stating what, in our opinion, it means to be a “cool mom.” [...]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 – 43 BC) once said “if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” I disagree. I do have a garden that I tend with parental care and take pleasure in on a daily basis. I also have a library that is as necessary to me as [...]

Here in Savannah,Georgia, people in my neighborhood are accustomed to a variety of aromas—the occasional stench of the paper mill when the wind is from the northwest; the sweet, grassy fragrance of the salt marsh to the east; the perfume of magnolia and wisteria in the spring; the lingering essence of horse and buggy.  On [...]

Because I am the family bookkeeper, I did what I always do at mid-month—downloaded an interim bank statement to be sure my records in Quicken were in sync with those of Wells Fargo. They weren’t. According to the statement, on December 21, I had charged $697.47 to my Visa card. No way, Jose. The vender’s [...]

At the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, I had an instructor who, when exasperated, would rip the charcoal from my hand and with quick, bold strokes reduce my rendering to scribble. “Space is everything,” he would shout. “Never forget that you are drawing on both sides of the line!” He meant, of course, [...]

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One of my favorite childhood memories is of a boisterous, after-supper game of “Kick the Can” with the neighborhood kids. The rules have been forgotten but not the sweet smells and cricket sounds of a summer night. Nor the fleet-footed freedom of running in the dark. Nor the sound of my mother’s laughter as she [...]

I have always envied behavioral psychologists and philosophers the orderly lives they lead. How consoling it must be to know the meaning of life and to have a clear understanding of the rules for living it. Without rules, of course, our day-to-day existence would be fraught with confusion and frustration. Come to think of it, [...]

A few more words about toilets–and then I promise to stop. On a visit to the National Railway Museum in York, England, Prince Charles revealed a facet of his personality heretofore unknown: In fourth place, after God, the Queen, and Camilla, His Majesty loves old toilets. Collecting antique loos is his hobby. At first glance [...]

I feel compelled to say a few words concerning public restrooms, about which there is so much to be annoyed. Let me begin with the ladies’ room at an upscale restaurant where the uniformed “attendant” sits in a comfortable chair all day not reading anything in order to be on her toes when I come [...]