In January Marla described her trip to one of the small post offices near our house. A few days ago I took a drive to visit other nearby post offices. On my drive I took photos and talked to the post men and women to learn more about them. I wanted to learn something about these towns and what the post offices meant to them: it was more than just sending packages and selling stamps. For many of these tiny dots on the map, a post office and a zip code is about identity. Continue reading
work
Groundhog Day: the day after
Car trouble, car travel, and getting stuck
It’s been a week since my last blog post. I’m not quite sure why I’ve been so silent. Since the snowstorm I have been puttering around, catching up with friends and working on our taxes. And, kaboom, February! Before the ground hog comes out of of his hole tomorrow morning I wanted to get another post out.
Why did the deer cross the road?
I just returned from a visit to my parents in New England. Whenever I visit I always have grand plans, which inevitably get waylaid by other things. Everything takes longer. I left for home about an hour after I had hoped, so I drove the five hours without a stop. About 20 miles from home I spied three deer by the side of the road preparing to cross. This was not make way for ducklings. When a deer wants to cross the road you had better stop or get out of the way. Continue reading
. . . and then you have no Internet!

Anyone who read my post from a few days ago knows that we recently lost our power. Ok, no biggie, it came back on about two hours later. I lit candles and we ate a cold dinner. We survived. It wasn’t like we were in some faraway land without power or running water. At the end of the day, it was a minor nuisance. Continue reading
Working from home: where is the office?
I often wonder what I do every day. How is it that the weeks fly by? I talked about this in an earlier post, about what it means to lead a useful, productive life. A big part of this is connected to my at home work, otherwise known as the home office. I actually have a mostly dedicated room for my office. We have Continue reading
The Pennsylvania Conference for Women: Why We Should Care
On November 19th the 12th annual Pennsylvania Conference for Women was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. I was fortunate to be able to attend, supporting coaching in the career pavilion alongside resume review. Since I was working, I had a limited opportunity to experience the Conference. But even in my little corner I absorbed a lot of the energy and excitement of the day. I came away with a renewed sense of optimism. Continue reading
Survivor’s guilt: am I good enough without a real job?
A few days ago I hit day sixty of my post-retirement life. A lot has happened in two months. I moved, left my career and friends in the DC area, got to know a new community and neighbors, and started working with a volunteer organization. I’ve kept busy and engaged with all kinds of tasks, but every once in a while I think about that prior life when my value came from my job title and the size of my office and the number of people I managed. What is my value now? Am I a success or a failure? Continue reading
Weeds as a metaphor for life
I don’t like dandelions. I don’t like crabgrass either or other weeds, but my dislike for dandelions is extreme. For the past two weeks I have been outside every day with my forked tongue garden tool digging up the dandies. They yield willingly to me after a rain or in the early morning when the ground is soft. When the grass turns brown from lack of rain, the dandies thrive in spite of it, sticking out their dandelion tongues at me in defiance. See, they say, I will grow in any weather in any soil and Continue reading
Pieces of cloth: The Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza
I haven’t been blogging lately. A lot has been going on so I have some catch up to do. Two weeks ago I attended the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza that took place from Thursday to Sunday in Oaks, PA. Oaks is the home of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. My friend BJ is an expert quilter and she had two of her quilts accepted into this show. Since I lived so close I said I would go and scope it out, and take pictures of her quilts. By the way, one of them won a ribbon. Continue reading







