Everyone is familiar with New York City Statue of Liberty. She stands proudly on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. But did you know there are Statues of Liberty all around the world? More than 15 countries have a replica of the ‘Liberty Enlightening the World‘ including France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Kosovo, Ukraine, Japan, Vietnam, […]
New York
Village of Fayetteville (New York) Bird Preserve (Gramlich Bird Sanctuary)
When my parents purchased the home where I grew up in Fayetteville, New York, one of the selling factors was that the property backed up to a bird preserve. My father reasoned that because the land was protected, no one would build on it and our home would always be surrounded by woods in the […]
9-11
9-11. I was working in the Rainier Bank Building in Seattle, a tall tower in the middle of downtown. On the 22nd floor. That day, I was late to work and wondered why no one was at their desk when I arrived at the office. Had I forgotten an all-staff meeting? I found them, huddled […]
Comfort food: A bowl of soup to honor the memory of a friend
Today marks the third anniversary of my friend Dee’s passing, and tonight Joel and I will sit down to enjoy a bowl Moosewood Mushroom Barley Soup in her memory, just as we did last year and the year before that. Making this soup—which Dee and I enjoyed together on many occasions–is my way of honoring […]
Ithaca is gorges
Big Papa and I spent the past week in upstate New York. We were there visiting my mother and my sister, who is ill with cancer. I knew that it would be a tough, emotional five days. So, at the end of our stay, we sought respite for two days in Ithaca. It’s hard not […]
Hillsides covered in color
Growing up in central New York State, I got to experience fall at its finest. Come late September, first one tree and then another would start a spectacular transformation and put aside its summer dress for a fall cloak of color. Hues of yellow and gold, red and burgundy slowly appeared on trees up and […]
There’s no place like home
Down the lane Rain pounds on the windshield of our rental car as we drive up the gravel road in Ingomar, Pennsylvania, just north by twenty minutes from Pittsburgh. The temperature outside is unseasonably cold and we hear that several inches of snow had fallen the week before our visit. Today the skies are gray, […]
Friends for life
Some of my earliest memories revolve around my friend Dee. I was six years old, living in a small town in upstate New York, when her family moved in across the street. My sister and I watched as they carried bed after bed across the lawn into their house. We were a family of four […]