‘Twas the first day of class, suspense flooded the room,
Yet, my stomach gurgled a wee sense of doom.
For I’ve been to enough workshops to know what to expect:
A roller coaster of emotions, which inevitably reflect
Anxiety, frustration, embarrassment and fear,
Joy, pride, and laughter, with an occasional tear.
And so there I sat, one beaming face amongst twelve, Continue reading
I’m finally on my way to the Southampton Writer’s Conference. Since this event is back East, I decided to stop and visit family and friends along the way. First stop, Brooklyn. Continue reading
When Mr. Man was given the gift of a balloon ride by his co-workers for his 50th birthday I was immediately transported back in time to my eleven-year-old bedroom. I saw myself lying in bed, pillow fluffed behind my head reading Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.” Captivated by Phileas Fogg’s flight in a hot air balloon with his valet Passpartout, the dream of one day circumnavigating the earth with my manservant took root.
Nearly forty-five years later my fantasy materialized – maybe not the part traveling completely around the world, but certainly living the rest of the dream… Continue reading
It’s 5:10 a.m.
The race is on.
Who will be the first to announce the dawn of a new day? Mother Nature slashing a blaze of dazzling light across the horizon just before she catapults that blinding orb into the sky? No. She’s not scheduled to wake up for another thirty-six minutes.
The birds lilting twitters, tweets, and peeps shaking off nighttime dreams of worm breakfasts and gnat snacks? No. With their wee heads tucked under their wings, they’re still snoring – snuggled in tree cavities and dense vegetation, waiting for Mother to flip on the lights. Oh, and yes, birds do indeed snore… Continue reading
If you’ve ever played RED ROVER, SIMON SAYS, or RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT, then you are not a stranger to TAG – a fast and furious game where one kid in a group is deemed IT and runs around the yard trying to touch someone else thereby dubbing them IT until it gets dark and the fireflies come out signaling it’s time to go home, or in Stephen King’s case, to write a horror story whose evil character, IT, still prompts a rain of heebie-jeebies down my back when I see a clown.
Now that I’m grown, well sort of, and Continue reading
With so many weddings and anniversaries coming up, I’d like to share Red’s grandparents’ advice. My favorite is number 6 1/2…
At my grandparents’ golden wedding anniversary party, my new fiancé, Mac gave an impromptu toast to the happy couple. Fifteen years later, we never imagined we would once again be celebrating with Joe and Dot for their 65th anniversary. Last month, we were lucky enough to do just that.
My grandparents are part of The Greatest Generation.
He, a World War II Navy veteran saw The Battle of Normandy in the Atlantic, Okinawa in the Pacific, and lost his parents and almost his own life in a tragic accident all before the age of twenty-one. A devoted husband and well-meaning father with a strong work ethic who can fix anything, Joe greets life with a smile. My grandfather is a youthful, spirited song and dance man, musician and opera lover who has serenaded and entertained generations of children.
She, a family and community matriarch who experienced divorce, fierce sibling…
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A return to my alma mater, State University of New York Stony Brook, for any reason was the last thing I ever expected to do until an acquaintance, picture book author Julie Gribble, told me about a Children’s Book Writers Conference to be held at the university’s Southampton campus in July. I attended S.U.S.B. when a bridge went nowhere and the university hospital consisted of two bricks in someone’s imagination.
Fond memories are few, but how could there be many when all my energy was spent on figuring out how to stow away aboard a United States battleship to be with my boyfriend rather than concentrating on my studies.
Whether I’m chatting on a plane, in line at the grocery store, or sipping cocktails at the hippest place in town, yeah right, ninety-nine point nine percent of the time I am asked,
“So – what do you do?”
It used to be a loaded question, especially when it ended with “all day.”
That’s when I was a Stay-At-Home-Mom.
If guilt over not having an ‘outside’ job didn’t have me stuttering and hemming and hawing over not having time because I was chasing after my precious offspring,
I’d shoot back, Continue reading
My blog posts are typically on the humorous side. The times I mount my soapbox and voice an outraged opinion are few. Today is one of those days where I cannot remain silent. Thankfully, Jenny at UNLOAD & REWIND has made it easy for me – so now let’s Bring Back Our Girls! Mankind’s inhumanity has no place in this world. Please take a stand and add your name to the the petitions Jenni has put together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
As a rule I try to keep the weekend posts here at Unload and Unwind to more humorous topics as a way of taking a step back from the more serious pieces that I write about politics and the environment. However I have decided that this issue far out ways the need to step back. In fact I am calling for all of us to step forward, to raise our voice and add our names to the petitions being created around the world decrying the horrendous taking of a number of young girls in Nigeria.
As most may be aware on April 16 of this year 200 girls were kidnapped by an extremist group called ‘Boko Haram‘. This was done so that they would be unable to take their examinations and to call a halt to the education of women in that country. Around the world the outrage…
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I’ve been on the road for a week, traveling with Mr. Man on a fund-raising tour for his new venture. The kick-off however, was first celebrating his aunt’s 80th Birthday with family and friends at a german restaurant in Queens. Thereafter, it was off to the big city. So, here are my REFLECTIONS in a pictorial adventure… Continue reading
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