The crunch beneath my feet is altogether different from the leaves of fall. Brittle and unforgiving is the earth of frozen winter, even here where snow has yet to fall, where the empty parking lot and the barren trails give way to the solitude of woods in the winter. From a gravel road to a… Continue reading A Walk in the Winter Woods

Last night, we reminisced about those years of late night Christmas Eve toy building, of anticipation and unrestrained joy in our young children on the days and nights leading up to Christmas morning. We remembered the years when one child would wake at 2:00 am, unable to go back to sleep and incapable of holding… Continue reading Of giving and getting

Tradition is not a stagnant concept. This I’ve learned, though it’s taken me a very long time to understand, accept, enjoy and cherish the changes in tradition, those we’ve brought with us, those we’ve added, those we’ve created and those we continue to welcome to the mix and incorporate into our own. As with every… Continue reading Traditions

There comes a time to say good-bye, and today was the day for my mother’s cookie sheets. Ancient. Stained. Slightly bent. The foundation for 55 years or more of cookies: First my mother’s, then mine, then my kids, most recently and most often, my daughter’s. Chocolate chip. Chocolate Peanut butter chip. Peanut butter. Kiss cookies.… Continue reading Galvanized

One of my fondest memories of young adulthood is time spent playing board games with family and close friends around the holidays. Though I don’t believe we did this often, those few times occupy prime space in my memory. The comfort. The familiarity. The fun. The irreverence. The easy conversation and laughter. The camaraderie. The… Continue reading The making of a memory