Autumn, Chef David, Home, Hotel Chains, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photo Essay, Photography, The South, Travel, Vermont, Writers

Travelogue: There and Back Again, Vermont Style

Vermont’s namesake Green Mountains, resplendent on a late summer day There were no orcs, dwarves, or elves on this trip. Just one exceptionally bad hotel (the balance exceptionally good) and mainly smooth sailing. We traveled to Vermont chiefly so Chef David and I could visit his adult kids. Mission accomplished, fair to say. The conditions in New England were gorgeous, couldn’t have asked for any … Continue reading Travelogue: There and Back Again, Vermont Style

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Chef David, Essays, Home, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Reflections, The South, Travel, Weather, Wilmington, North Carolina

How a Control Freak Deals With Nature

When I was a young student of archaeology, I recall being gobsmacked by the notion that the curvaceous Tennessee River had changed its course again and again over millennia and the one I knew, the one whose bluff I lived on for roughly a decade and where my kid spent the first few years of his life, probably looked radically different from the river native … Continue reading How a Control Freak Deals With Nature

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Chef David, Cuisine, Descriptive Writing, Dogs, Food, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever

Sunday Almanac 7.7.24: Summer Is Here

I have been spending long hours writing, but working on a more ambitious project outside of the blog. It is high time to check in, not quite high summer but sure feels that way. Against all odds, when the atmosphere outside is this oppressive (but not this oppressive), somehow our screen porch has remained a tolerable place to linger over coffee in the morning, iced … Continue reading Sunday Almanac 7.7.24: Summer Is Here

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Dogs, Essays, Home, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, Running, Running With Dogs, Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever, The South, Vermont, Writing

Reflection: Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever at 11½

Some 900-plus days into our tenure in coastal North Carolina, and I believe this dog has finally made his peace with the sometimes-oppressive humidity, the stormy nights, rambunctious neighborhood kids, the unpredictable action of the ocean on a good beach day, and all the rest. And while he may not have whole-heartedly embraced all these conditions in his life, like most dogs living their best … Continue reading Reflection: Scout-the-Goldapeake-Retriever at 11½

Unknown's avatarDeb German2 Comments
Chef David, Dogs, Essays, Home, Journaling, Non-Fiction, Photography, Reflections, Storytelling, Writing

Reflection: The Current State of Things

It is five of five in the morning and I am hanging my head over the sofa from behind it, about to awaken a sleeping chef until I realize he is wide awake. I am driving him to an early appointment at the doctor’s office in an hour for a little thing, so it is time to get moving. He is not fine, he tells … Continue reading Reflection: The Current State of Things

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments
Essays, Reflections, Writers, Writing

Reflection: Why Is ‘Hurrying Never’ So Elusive?

You know that feeling at the end of the day, when the anxiety of that-which-I-must-do falls away… That moment when you think, Oh God, what have I done with this day? And what am I doing with my life? And how must I change to avoid catastrophic end-of-life regrets? […] At the end of my life, I know I won’t be wishing I’d held more … Continue reading Reflection: Why Is ‘Hurrying Never’ So Elusive?

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Afternoon Miniatures, Descriptive Writing, Fiction Writing, Writing

Sunday Miniature 2.25.24

The little yellow radio transmitted only two signals clearly despite its glossy, new façade, one of them Christian talk shows and the other a 24 / 7 classical music station. The child had plastered it with colorful stickers and placed it on the window ledge in her bedroom just behind a pair of gauzy curtain panels. Stretched prone on the carpet, she passed idle days … Continue reading Sunday Miniature 2.25.24

Unknown's avatarDeb German1 Comment
Chef David, Cuisine, Food Photography, Journaling

Quick Sunday Almanac: Saturday Dinner 1.27.24

Quick food story: Last night’s Brussels sprouts were an experiment. The produce aisle where we shop always has fresh sprouts, but their condition from week to week is wholly unpredictable. In fact, the only thing predictable about them is their inflated price. But last Saturday we discovered organic frozen sprouts, and decided there was nothing to lose. Chef David prepared a supper last night of … Continue reading Quick Sunday Almanac: Saturday Dinner 1.27.24

Unknown's avatarDeb German3 Comments
Chef David, Food Photography, Home, Journaling, North Carolina, Photo Essay, Photography, Wilmington, North Carolina

Silent Sunday Almanac: Photo Essay

Sundays in our house usually give us a chance to press reset, to ready ourselves for the week ahead. Renewal feels so essential for success in the coming week. Ordinary chores to me are cathartic and necessary, and anyway somebody’s gotta do ’em. A few images from the day today. In the bleak midwinter are also outside chores to do. The Chef has been working … Continue reading Silent Sunday Almanac: Photo Essay

Unknown's avatarDeb German6 Comments
Architecture, Books, Essays, History, Knoxville, Tennessee, Non-Fiction, North Carolina, North Carolina History, The South, Travel

Reflection: Forgotten Dwellings, Untold Stories

There are stretches of busy highway here and elsewhere in coastal North Carolina where dwellings long abandoned stand in various states of ruin; some are so far gone an observer must look closely to find any evidence at all of the built structure nature seems intent to reclaim. Nor is it unusual for glossy new shopping centers or prosperous neighborhoods to pop up on either … Continue reading Reflection: Forgotten Dwellings, Untold Stories

Unknown's avatarDeb German2 Comments