Need Hope? Jane Goodall Will Give You Some
This post originally aired as a commentary on Tri States Public Radio. To listen, go here. Author E.B. White once said, “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” For me, planning my day is never the […]
Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 7: A Celebration of YOUR Pies
Episode 7 of “Stay Calm and Bake Pie” is here. It may be my favorite one, because it’s a celebration of all the pies you’ve been making this month. After watching it, my friend Kee Kee (who you read more about below) texted me this: “When this pandemic started you told me you wanted to […]
Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 6: Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb
Because I had so many requests, I made a gluten free pie crust for this episode of “Stay Calm and Bake Pie.” I’m no expert on gluten free baking — and I don’t need to be! That is the whole point of this series — to show you that pie does not have to be […]
Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 5: Chicken Pot Pie
In episode 5 of “Stay Calm and Bake Pie,” Doug is back by popular demand, demonstrating his culinary skills. Not sure if it’s him or my improving editing skills, but damn if he doesn’t look like a professional chef in this episode. Also, there’s some great music in this one. The Mike and Amy Finders […]
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 […]
How I’m Dealing with the Pandemic (And Other Anxieties)
I want to get back to being a writer, to writing the book I started in early December, or to scrapping that and starting a new one, even just to blogging, but I’m too restless. Like most people, I am sitting in a prickly pear cactus field of fear and anxiety. With the world as […]
The World Needs More People Like Ann
My friend Ann is dying. She had breast cancer about 10 years ago but it came back. In her spine. Containable but not curable, the drugs held it back for about a year or two. I hadn’t talked to her for a while and last fall I had a very strong sense that I needed […]
What To Do With All That Privilege
This essay also appears on Huffington Post. On Saturday night I dreamed I was in the elegant living room of an older wealthy woman. I stood next to her delivering an emphatic, tearful plea, insisting, “When you are born into privilege it is your responsibility to help others less fortunate than you.” Man, […]