Hello to all of you. Well. Here we are. To paraphrase one of my all-time favorite literary works, we have turned another page… and have come to the end. In this, our last column together, I was sorely tempted to try and pack all my ideas in here as a last hurrah. But, oi. It […]

Museums, libraries and archives – these are my happy places. True, I love a long walk in the great outdoors, but there is something about these hallowed spaces where history, questions and curiosity combine that just makes me fundamentally happy. Casually mention John Cotton Dana or Ennigaldi-Nanna (fun research tangent for you all) to me, […]

Our beloved state is currently embroiled in a loud and fractious feud. I wish we weren’t, but we are. A disclaimer: If you have questions, or are genuinely engaged in sorting your way through this issue, I welcome your conversation and I promise to engage in it without rancor. If, however, you are inclined to […]

This week holds an interesting spot on the calendar – the bridge space between Black History Month and Women’s History Month, two celebrations to which our current president has said, “Nyet!” But which I shall continue to celebrate anyway. I urge everyone to go biography diving on their own, while I take a moment to […]

Happy Presidents Day! I hope that wherever you are you stayed safe during the recent spate of storms, and were able to use the long weekend to rest up. It’s been a heck of a week. A quick note about this holiday; it started out as the celebration of one president, our first. That, of […]

Happy midwinter everyone! Finally, we have been getting some decent snow. I am a fan of snow. I love it. I love the soft light of sun through snow and the sense of snuggling in. And is there anything better than a good old-fashioned snow day? For my money, there is literally nothing greater than […]

Here we are at the start of February and, apparently, the federal government has “canceled” Black History Month? It’s hard to tell exactly what has actually been done about this, or what it means to those of us on the ground, but… yeah. The statement from the government declared that no longer will there be […]

Did you know that the first recorded use of the “+” and the “-” and the “=” signs, the basic symbols for arithmetic, first entered into common usage in the 1500s? Before that, those ideas were written out as words. And, get this, in 1518 there was an outbreak of “the dancing plague” where people […]

Land. Land has been much on my mind of late. There is a lot of joy in taking on this old and quirky home, lots of weirdness too as I change things I know my mother would resent me changing. Mostly, though, it is a lot of work. This house is big on “character,” low […]