In defense of independent kids There are lots of things that communities fight over. New developments, new laws, changes to governmental structures, taxes, taxes, taxes. But when Mark and I were on a long bike ride the other day, I was struck by the number of signs I saw posted in yards in an eastern […]
Whoever said “The days are long, but the years are short” was not lying. I probably complained the day this picture was taken. I was chaperoning a field trip for my son’s preschool class to our local Nature Center, complete with muddy hike and requisite rain. The date stamp tells me it was the spring […]
There is nothing natural about a baby with cancer. I think pretty much everyone would agree with that. But taking care of a baby with cancer is actually a completely natural, extraordinarily ordinary act. It is everything you do when taking care of a baby without cancer, just multiplied in both practice and reverence. You […]
The people behind the curtain at Facebook headquarters love to come up with neat little tricks every now and again, algorithms that are supposed to capture the meaning of an entire year or give us a glimpse into a person’s Facebook soul: Click here and we’ll create a photo collage of your last twelve months. […]
I’m gonna say the same thing here that I say every year, because it’s the only thing that deserves to be said at this moment: THANK YOU. I am humbled and honored to be able to bring this event to this community and I am humbled and honored by how enthusiastically this community embraces this […]
Weather is a funny thing. When you’re in the midst of it, at least when you’re in the midst of any of its many extreme forms, you feel as if what you’re experiencing is somehow special, unique. That you’re the only one who’s ever been that cold. That no other walk to school has been […]
When I was a freshman in high school, I took an introductory journalism course. That spring, a girl I’d known from my neighborhood went with the Heights instrumental music program on a trip to Asia, where she contracted a rare lung disease, which landed her in a coma upon her return home. She died on […]
My, what a difference four years can make. Last night was the fabulous Fairfax Cabaret, an every other year talent show that takes place on the high school stage. There’s a full stage crew, spotlights, headset microphones and all the accoutrements of a professional production. And it is so much fun, with everything from piano […]
Take a good look at this picture. Really, I mean, click on it and take a nice good look at the enlarged version. Look at those faces — the delighted smiles, the obvious bonds formed over the course of a season playing side-by-side, the pride and (no doubt) exhaustion. Do these kids look like losers […]
We are at that time of year, as we are so often are, that is filled with milestones and anniversaries. Some of them are good, some bad, all tinged with reminders both subtle and glaring of where we’ve been and where we might someday end up. Last Wednesday was Austin’s kindergarten musical performance, not an […]