Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 3: Banana Cream Pie
My “Stay Calm and Bake Pie” series continues with episode 3, and my dad’s favorite pie: banana cream. A friend pointed out, “This is the first time I’ve heard your story where you didn’t talk about how your parents met.” That’s true. In fact, it’s a story that has become THE story of my pie […]
Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 2, Mixed Berry Crumble
I am learning how to do the video shooting and editing on the fly — flying solo, at that. I am using Doug’s iPad to film and iMovie to edit. I’m starting to get the hang of splitting clips and splicing music. But the sound quality needs a lot of improvement. I need a wireless […]
Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode One: Apple Pie
After two months in Tucson, I’m back on the farm in Iowa because….the virus. It feels good to be with Doug, Mali, Maybelline, Chaps (our lone surviving goat), and I even brought Peanut the Foster Dog along, though she is no longer a foster, she has been adopted as a permanent family member. And for […]
Tom Howard’s Last Piece of Pie
My dad and me. Photo taken on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2017 Two months ago I lost the person I loved most in the world. I lost my dad. He died on March 9, 2017 at 6:30 AM, of metastasized melanoma. The spot on his head first appeared in 2015, a raised and rough growth, […]
Blogging in a Noisy World: Why it Matters
You may not have noticed my absence but I am fully aware of the neglect of my blog. Aware, I say, because I miss writing here. I miss the process of mulling over topics, asking questions of life and writing my way into the answers. That’s not to say I have not been mulling, asking […]
Father’s Day 2016
I wrote this essay as a birthday card to my dad last year. When sitting down to write him a Father’s Day card this week, I kept thinking about this gift to him. On that birthday night, our whole family sat down to a celebratory meal at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Marina del Rey, […]