A well-meaning friend, bearing a box of individually-wrapped cookies and cakes, knocked on Bea Johnson’s door. “Are you kidding me?” grumbled Bea after the guest left. “I guess people don’t know what our zero-waste lifestyle means.” Before I spoke with Bea, I didn’t either. I run errands with my fabric bags and reusable water bottle, plunk our wine bottles into our glass recycling bin, and switched to cloth napkins for
After a weekend hike in the grassy, woody area near their northern California home, Wendy Adams’ twin daughters know the drill. The 11-year-olds head straight to the laundry room, not flinching as Wendy inspects them from hair to toes. Once mom gives the ok, the girls jump in the shower and rinse off. “Hyper-vigilant,” some might say. But Wendy’s learned the hard way. Found in 65 countries and throughout the
When I seldom leave the house and yearn to see my adult kids, a routine comforts me. During quarantine, my husband and I wrap up our days and meet on the couch for a drink and the evening news. A little after 5 pm, Reed Clapp comes into our living room with his inventive bag of ideas for kids and parents and grandparents. Reed, or Mr. Clapp as he’s known
When her husband suggested she start a business with her mom, Rachel Berkey laughed out loud. “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” she scoffed. “With her sewing skills and your business background, I wonder if you might build something together,” he persisted. On maternity leave from her high-powered Boston consulting job, the new mom and Harvard MBA couldn’t stop processing his idea. During 3 am feedings and drowsy diaper
We all experience those periods when we sense a relationship is amiss. Or we know deep down we should make some changes on a personal level. But we look the other way, pretending not to notice, until we get a gentle shake or even a swift kick from the universe. And then—forced to act upon the precise issue we didn’t want to see, we set off in a direction we
How does it feel? I ask. Check Yes or No winds down, and a stadium filled with 20,000 fans erupts. Amid the claps and screams and shouts, what goes through your mind? Marty Slayton Jordan is way too kind and modest to admit the experience is one gigantic rush. But don’t you know it is?
The first night in her new apartment, Jennifer Clinger sat down to a meal of pancakes and sausage. She’d prepared a combination of breakfast and dinner—“brinner,” she calls it. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she devoured “the best pancakes ever”—in her home, at her table, in her kitchen. “The night I ate those pancakes,” says Jennifer, “was when I knew I would be ok.” Her traumatic and abusive childhood
As a teenager, Laticia Williams’ grandmother needed a new pair of shoes. In the basement of Nashville’s FW Woolworth building, one of the original “five and dime” stores in the country, the sales clerk agreed to sell Big Mama the shoes. But, like in other stores of the day, Big Mama wasn’t allowed to try them on. Big Mama traced the outline of her foot on a brown paper bag.
Backstage, at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Matt Logan crossed his fingers and glued his eyes to the tv monitor. He’d dressed the superstar entertainer and rigged all the hooks and ties and snaps in the right spots. All he could do now was watch and listen and hope the act went off without a hitch. Along with an Emmy-award winning producer and a Broadway and film actress, Matt founded Studio Tenn
People in their fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties are different from those a generation ago. Today’s individuals approaching “senior status” are healthier and more active. They are curious and want to continue to learn about the world around them. Four decades ago, Bernard Osher, and his foundation, began to lay the groundwork for a learning network targeted to “seasoned adults.” Now located on 124 college and university campuses, in all
It’s a Merry Tuba Christmas! This month, in hundreds of cities across the country, bunches of tuba-toting musicians will gather to play holiday music. What began as a tribute to a tuba performer, who was born on Christmas Day, has become a unique showcase of tubas and their brass relatives – euphoniums and sousaphones and baritones. As a graduate teaching assistant at Indiana University’s acclaimed music school, Garnett (G.R.) Davis
It’s that time of year again…Magazines and social media feeds are loaded with stylish and crafty ideas for us to buy and cook and wear and do. We decorate our homes and trees and yards, bake treats for neighbors and teachers and co-workers, and purchase and wrap way too many gifts. We succumb to the Christmas craziness and want the holidays to be just right. Thirteen years ago, a medical
In late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey roared into Houston, Texas. It stalled over the nation’s fourth largest city and dumped relentless rain for the next four days. The Category 4 storm flooded two-thirds of the city with 1 1/2 feet of water. Entire communities, and the schools in them, were destroyed. Lisa Clemenceau had raised two sons and, like so many women I meet, pondered what was next. As we
I tugged on my thigh-high waders, lacquered my skin with mosquito spray, and tiptoed into the murky water. Serge Krouglikoff maneuvered me into position—a spot where the light and shadows were just right and I wouldn’t sink into the squishy marsh floor. And then I saw them—tiny specks off in the distance—led by a gardian on horseback. Serge (even his name is cool) is what I’ve imagined an esteemed London
In my hunt for entertaining shows to stream, I stumbled upon a gem. V is For Vino features an affable host, unpretentious wine speak, lush vineyards, and a glimpse inside the kitchen of a local chef. Available on Amazon, the trio of first-season episodes gives me the urge to pack a bag and head west to California. The lead vocalist for a rock band, Vince Anter landed in Los Angeles
In his recent hit, Rob Thomas sings “I’m not afraid of getting older….” Well, I am. As I approach a milestone birthday and witness my parents and in-laws decline, I worry. I worry about their waning health and quality of life. But I also worry for me. What can I do, as I approach my sixties and beyond, to keep my body from rolling steadily downhill? Adam Lee assures me
Nicole Hughes glanced out the window, saw her three-year-old son floating in the pool, and was, for a fraction of a second, confused. Levi was bathed, fed, and ready for bed. “We aren’t swimming….” she remembers thinking. Six couples from around the country, long-time friends since medical school, gather each summer near Gulf Shores, Alabama. Vacationing in the same beach house for the seventh year, some were laughing and talking
A man smiled and handed a crisp $100 bill to the young woman doling out maple and blueberry and key lime doughnuts to the early morning risers. Nodding at the long line of folks behind him, he wanted to buy breakfast for all of them. “My eight-year-old son recently passed away,” he said quietly, “and this was his favorite place to go at the beach.” Surrounded by beautiful white homes
You may have shaken hands with someone wearing a tiny pin, or even a t-shirt, announcing “I am a 7.” Some people introduce themselves by offering, “I’m a 5.” They want us to immediately know what to expect from them – and their behavior. After seventeen years of counseling and steering clients through depression, grief, life transitions, trauma, and disasters, Sharon Ball founded the Nashville Center For Enneagram and Wellbeing.
Let’s imagine for a moment….A resident of an apartment building slips on the bathroom floor, hits her head on the counter as she falls, and, sadly, dies. She is on the ground for a week until someone finally discovers her. All kinds of ugly things have happened with her body in the meantime, and the home absolutely reeks. Who cleans this up? If I ever stopped to think about it,
