It has been a while since I exercised my camera and my eye and so today I decided to capture what was a fairly typical Sunday in our household. It is quiet but not, relaxing but busy. When we put off Sunday chores we pay for that decision all week long. Scoutie and I started our morning outdoors while David was at work, a job … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Domestic Arts
It is Monday, the first full day in my week-long visit to Dad’s place down in Chattanooga, to his comfortable house in the suburbs (more properly in Ringgold, just over the Georgia state line) he shares with Sheryl, his lovely wife of many years. These travel plans have been in the works since way back in the fall; Sheryl and her two daughters who straddle … Continue reading Reflection: A Father’s Day Gift
What is it about permanence that is so alluring on the one hand, and so vexing on the other. When my kiddo was tiny, he developed an appetite for drawing and coloring with permanent markers because they were forbidden. If his tiny fingers found their way around a Sharpie, in short order I’d have to pry it loose and then replace it with a less-desirable … Continue reading Reflection: The Places That Mark Us Indelibly
In Which We Visit New England to Celebrate the Life of a Family Matriarch Only a few days home from our ambitious travels, and we’ve concluded the sacred institution that is The American Road Trip is in a perilous state at a moment the world is still emerging from COVID, a moment we hoped things might have changed for the better since traveling (moving!) when … Continue reading April 2023 Travelogue: Road Trip
But it has been a bad season for pollen, even the locals say so. And even though we’re now locals too, we’re still too green (or yellow, as the case may be) to know what qualifies as “bad” for spring pollen in coastal North Carolina. Evidently this does. Our new home has a screened porch adjacent to the open interior living space on the first … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Life’s Been Pretty Good Lately
Tabby is a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells. —Wikipedia “Maybe we ought to build a wall instead of a fence.” The words spilled out of me suddenly as they’re wont to do, even though the thought had been knocking around in my head for a while. Chef David … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: We Need Lowcountry Tabby Concrete
It’s almost like a luge track,” The Chef observed during the winter of 2014. I had been in Vermont for only about a year and a half but was already in my second place there. My first place had been an idyllic cottage on picturesque Lake Morey, where I damn near ran out of cash owing to an errant ex who failed to honor the … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: We Have No Snow But We Do Have Eleanor
…I fell down the most enchanting rabbit hole. The buildup had been coming for weeks, in the space of time between seeing an ad for tickets a couple months back, and then the magical show last night. Gentle reader, if you don’t know of the Gipsy Kings, drop what you’re doing right now and go see whether they’re coming to a venue near you soon. … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: When the Gipsy Kings Came to Town…
I swear, I don’t know how we got this lucky, lucky enough to live a paltry 15 minutes from this local natural resource. Yesterday was perfect for an outside romp: nary a cloud in the sky, the temps didn’t warm above the 70s, and there was a gentle breeze in the air. Chef David and I earlier had made a plan to go wander around … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: An Exquisite Day at Fort Fisher State Park
A gown of Cupioni silk, in princess style, was worn by the bride. Panels of Chantilly lace were fashioned in the front and in the back. The back of the skirt extended into a short train. A Sabrina neckline and long sleeves were also featured. The bride carried white orchids attached to a mother of pearl prayer book. The prayer book was given to her … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: We Tie the Knot…Finally
Carolina Thinklings 