The last time I was in Kentucky, I tried to teach my mom, almost 92 years old, how to dictate a text. We had not given my sister in Alabama, the recipient of said texts, any heads up about what was coming. She was rightly confused and a tad concerned about what was fil...

It happens every semester. Students see, for the first time for many, the "ghosts," the invisible ones whose labor supports their daily lives. Reading Jeanne Marie Laska's reports about living conditions at a migrant camp of blueberry pickers is sobering,  enlightening...

In September 2019, Larry and I took a trip to Port Renfrew, a very small town on Vancouver Island, BC. It was our second visit to this tiny site, our second stay in a yurt at Soule Creek Lodge. It is one of my favorite places in the world.

On our last day, we sought out...

Nolan. 

My grandson Nolan is 4 1/2 years old. He has stolen my heart. He knows how to  call me for a FaceTime chat. We sing, talk about his new Percy train engine, and play goofy games, teasing each other about silly things to eat (dog food and train engines are most de...

"LISTEN. Are you breathing just a little and calling it life?"

~ Mary Oliver

Several years ago, ​ one of my children became very ill in such a way that everything was turned topsy-turvy for a long long time. I experienced fear (well, actually, terror), a sense of helples...

Yesterday, I changed my coat for the third time (yeah, because, you know, Pittsburgh winter weather) and found this bumper sticker in the pocket. At first, I thought it said "Bean Outsider." I do like my beans, but what!?! Then I quickly realized my mistake.

"Be an Ou...