In May my husband’s half-brother Grant was killed in a naval helicopter accident off the coast of San Diego, leaving behind a wife and two small sons. When our family arrived at the funeral we discovered that Grant’s friends had spent over a week building a wooden Viking boat. It had a carved dragon’s head...Continue Reading

Over the weekend my husband Will and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by driving south on highway one and having lunch on the edge of the Big Sur coast overlooking the ocean. I’m telling him about a review I read of a book by anthropologist, Helen Fisher on the origin of romantic love. She states...Continue Reading

I spent Thanksgiving weekend with my in-laws on the Suwannee River in Florida on their pontoon boat looking for manatees. And I haven’t been on a boat since my trip to India last month. My father-in-law has lung cancer and he has just discovered that it has traveled to the kidneys and liver. He was...Continue Reading

The first days of summer have presented me with a very clear theme through such events as the recall of red toxically painted Thomas the Trains made in China, (which means that James #5, my son Liam’s favorite, could potentially poison him), a no-holds-barred geyser in the front yard from a broken pipe at 2am...Continue Reading