I spent last week in Denver. It was a work trip of sorts to help my former husband get ready to sell his house and move into smaller digs. Lee was my middle husband, and has remained my close friend these past 30-some years. I supported him through the loss of his wife to Covid,…
I’m throwing myself headlong into social calamity right now. I’ve begun the daunting task of reclaiming my maiden name, Chernak. Being bad at matrimony, I’ve done this a few times in my life but this time is different. For one thing, I have somehow managed to become old, and remembering and logging all the many,…
I wrote this during Covid, and I can’t remember quite when. But today, as we celebrate Earth Day in our town, We celebrate the Library hive that I installed 2018 on Earth Day. Here is just one of my memories of this precious colony of bees…. “I won’t lie: It’s been really hard starting this…
I found this lovely definition of “distilled” in an online dictionary and I love it: “The purification or concentration of a substance, the obtaining of the essence or volatile properties contained in it, or the separation of one substance from another, by such a process.” Distill is my word for the year, and a fine…
A short while ago, I had the opportunity to serve on a small jury to elect a new county-wide Poet Laureate. I came to the process late in the game, as a rushed fill-in person for a juror who begged out. I’m no poet, but have writing chops behind me, so there I was. My…
Benny and Carter are the two dogs who run our household these days. Benny is a fuzz-ball of a poodle, and Carter a herding mix with a coat like an old shag rug. Benny grew up here with my housemates at the Manor, and Carter grew up with me. I’ve never seen two dogs so…
The sky today is a mosaic of grays, sparkling whites, and veins of crystal-clear blue. The sun finds her way between all the patterning, and casts crazy shadows that dart across the garden. This morning the streets had that mellow scent of fresh rain. All of these delights are the offerings of autumn, sending a…
This is something I wrote months ago, and forgot to post… On a cold morning in late winter, I was overcome with an urge to take Carter to the forest, and to walk as slowly and exploratively as I wanted. I did not expect nor desire to go far. I simply didn’t have the strength yet….