When I was a kid, a summer birthday was a bummer. My brother’s birthday is the day before mine. On July 23rd (his B-day) or the 24th (mine) we often shared a cake that was frosted and candled in gender-neutral colors. The guest list was mostly neighbors and cousins...
The plaster in my backyard pool is peeling in great chunks. The deck is cracked. But until we refurbish the outdated pool, my husband keeps it clean and clear. My personal pool guy! Read Swimming With Strangers in Shanghai. Swimming is my favorite form of...
Floridians boast they live in paradise. You can’t beat the almost year-round summer weather. But bugs also love the heat. We share our spaces, indoors and out, with thousands of insects: book-loving silverfish, blood-thirsty mosquitoes, helicopter-sized...
Multitasking is the ability to perform more than one task, or activity, at the same time. Time, or lack of, is why we multitask. But are we saving time doing two or three things at once? Experts throw around phrases like context switching, Switch-Tasking, and...
Flying over Helsinki, Finland, the ground is blanketed in snow. My Florida boots are getting a workout this winter. Instead of making snow angels, sightseeing, or visiting relatives, this two-week trip will be spent in isolation, writing the last few chapters of...
Decades ago, I moved from my hometown of Superior, Wisconsin to Central Florida. I traded snow for sandy beaches and below zero temperatures for year-round sunshine. But the beauty and fun of wintery weather beckons. Lake Superior, February 2015 Rovaniemi, Finland,...
