People Overestimate What They Can Do in a Day, and Underestimate What They Can Do in a Lifetime

Fresh from the glow of January goal-setting (or, in my case, not) and raw from the sudden, untimely death of a loved one,  I’m newly inspired by this quote. Let yourself off the hook, but keep your aim high. See the forest, but don’t get lost in the trees . The latter might be a… Continue reading People Overestimate What They Can Do in a Day, and Underestimate What They Can Do in a Lifetime


Summer in the Winter

Sometimes you need a little summer in the winter, and this is one of those times. Here’s a summer book and a summer house, both set in the same storied mountain enclave of Highlands, North Carolina, and created for your reading and viewing pleasure…



Sky-High Resolutions

By “the sky,” I mean Who You Are, your heart, your bliss, whatever it is. In this New Year I’m going to keep looking for my whatever-it-is, and I’m going to start letting go of whatever it isn’t.


Christmas Blessings and the Met’s Creche

The day before leaving New York to come South, I hurled myself straight into denial about everything left undone and marched straight up to the Met to see the fabulous Christmas tree and Nativity scene. All of a sudden those things left undone hardly seemed to matter.



Nelson Mandela, Johnny Clegg, and a Music Hall in Jo’burg 1988

The morning after Nelson Mandela died, NPR’s Renee Montagne interviewed a white South African named Johnny Clegg, whose music I’ve listened to and loved since I saw him perform in Johannesburg in 1988. Clegg’s song, “Asimbonanga,” Zulu for “We Have not Seen Him” stopped me in my tracks and still does. Years later, at a concert in France, where Clegg is popular and known as le Zulu Blanc, he performs Asimbonanga and is joined on stage by Mandela. Wow-oh-wow,


Hit the Pause Button – via The Silver Pen

You all know how I love The Silver Pen blog and its author Hollye Jacobs.  You also know how important it is to “hit the pause button” now and then. And yet. I know, I know. But please read Hollye’s wise words on this subject. I can’t think of a better way to continue through… Continue reading Hit the Pause Button – via The Silver Pen


Thanksgiving Puzzle Giveaway!

Here’s something fun everybody can do at Thanksgiving that does not involve a football, a television, a parade float, a stick of butter, or even an iPad. Seriously! Start a new family tradition! Does not contain trans-fats! Good for you and good for your brain. And did I mention fun… Are you puzzled??? (wink, wink)


A Symphony for the Soul, in the Autumn Light

Lilies in our New York apartment in the autumn light.

For several days now–spurred perhaps by the frantic-but-I-love-it pace of autumn in New York and the prospect of the holidays that the shop windows are already putting upon us–I’ve been thinking of this piece I have taped to my kitchen cabinet…