Volunteerism – A Unique State of Mind

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(Originally appeared in The Beach Reporter on 7/9/92.)

On my desk sits my Oscar. My Oscar differs slightly from the real Academy Award, but it is cherished nonetheless.

It is made of gold plastic and is about 8 ½ inches tall. It sits on top of my stack of unsold, unpublished writing. My Oscar has nothing to do with my writing, however. I received it for a volunteer position I took on at my children’s school.

During a recent Parents Club meeting, awards were handed out to various moms at the school for volunteer jobs they had done. My job was a small one. Some of the women performed truly Herculean tasks, like chairing the school carnival or being in charge of a dinner dance. They really deserved their Oscars. Continue reading →

Celebrating Life’s Milestones

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(A Beach Reporter column from May 29, 1992.)

May and June always seem to me to mark the passage of time even more than the beginning of the new year in January. We start a new calendar in January, but in late spring we mark many of life’s milestones. Graduations, weddings, ceremonies marking the completion of work well-done, luncheons honoring teachers – all these events traditionally mark the season of late spring.

It is during these ceremonies that we take notice of our lives. Life can be so monotonous sometimes, so we need celebrations to renew our souls and awaken our emotions. We need to mark the passage of time with parties. Graduates reflect on the completion of their education and are quietly proud of their accomplishment. Newly married couples start out on a journey full of promise. She will always be as beautiful as she is on this wedding day. He will always look at her with adoration. Continue reading →

Poem: Prairie Reverie

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(Today, a poem for Natl. Poetry Month. This poem appeared in my 2001 novel The Lake Poet.)

PRAIRIE REVERIE

I want to crawl into the prairie grass with you
grasp the dirt with my hands, my knees digging in,
grass stains on my elbows,
and the fairy dust of wildflowers sprinkled in my hair.

The joe-pye weeds will stand as sentinels
their lavender riches offered to the sky.
The prairie grasses, gardens of the desert,
will move in a rhythm to match our own.

The thick air will absorb our cries
and the cries of the hawks gliding above us, watching.
Grasshoppers will alight on our shoulders.
and everything will be you,
the clover, the green shafts of cutting weeds,
the yellow ragweed the color of lemons,
and the slice-of-pie ghost moon in the daylight sky.

 

 

Drama at the Duck Pond

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(Originally published in Main Line Life on 6/25/08.)

There are many great benefits that come from having a college campus in your community. Here on the Main Line, we are lucky to have several beautiful campuses in our midst. Bryn Mawr, Villanova, Haverford, Rosemont, Cabrini – all offer a myriad of wonderful opportunities for those of us who are no longer in college, but are able to avail ourselves of the rich cultural opportunities these institutions so generously share with surrounding community members. I have attended literary events, musical performances, art gallery openings, lectures by internationally recognized academicians, and political rallies, most of which have been free of charge to the general public.

But I have to admit my favorite “perk” of having all these great campuses in our midst is the nature trail and pond at the Haverford College campus. For the past several years, I have walked nearly every day on the nature trail that winds around the perimeter of the campus. The only time I don’t walk is if it is pouring rain or way below freezing.

Spring and early summer are a particularly delightful time to explore the nature trail and pond. There are so many flowering trees and shrubs on the campus that nearly everywhere you walk you will catch a heady whiff of some fragrant blossom. The giant oaks form a shady canopy that not only keeps you cool as you walk, but also provide a home to the dozens of bird species that live in them. Many of the trees are labeled with small brass plates on their trunks, so a wanderer can learn much, should he or she have the curiosity to do so. Continue reading →