Ever get pulled into a discussion that escalates and before you know it, becomes a back-and-forth anxiety session with a friend or somebody in your family? Someone you care about is worried and they...

On one of my regular walking routes I pass two of those “little free libraries”, where people both give and get stuff to read. I always look inside. Sometimes I take a book home,...

When we were in Texas for the eclipse three months ago, all twelve of us trooped in to explore a huge convenience-type store along the freeway. Kind of like a Luv’s times fifty. One...

One of my relatives told me when he got a new car, he had an awful time finding it in parking lots. He wandered up and down rows and rows of cars, too embarrassed...

I’m a sucker for travel writing. All different kinds. My obsession began a long time ago with Charles Kuralt’s essays and progressed to William Least Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways”. I haunt travel sections in...

A friend of mine came home from Pilates and texted me that someone at the end of the class had said, “You did really well!” She was more than clearly annoyed. “Why wouldn’t I...

At the farmer’s market last week, I bought some Yukon Gold potatoes from a young woman at one of the produce stands. She was wearing a t-shirt with a cool graphic and the words,...

For two bucks at Half Price Books I got a brand new compilation of Paul Theroux’s travel essays. I like his writing and have read most of his travel books in unabridged editions. This...

It was a beautiful day and I zipped over to the saltwater beach five minutes away. I had reserved one of the shelters there for a family picnic on the weekend and wanted to...

We could hear the band coming down the street from the high school two blocks away. When it passed our house we knew it was time to leave. My mother and I walked north...