There is a particular kind of relief in waking to rain. I don’t mean the dangerous kind that sends us hunting for flashlights and refreshing the weather radar every ten minutes. I mean ordinary rain, the steady, companionable sort that taps at the windows, blurs the edges of the morning, and turns the whole world outside a soft and forgiving gray.
The Gift of a Rainy Day Read More »
When we hear the word accessibility, it’s easy to think about things designed specifically for people with disabilities: ramps, designated parking spaces, Braille signs, wheelchair lifts. What we don’t always notice is how often an accommodation created to give one group better access becomes an ordinary part of life for the rest of us. There’s even a name for this: the curb-cut effect.
You Probably Used an Accessibility Feature Today Read More »
Last week, our air conditioner died.
This would have been inconvenient anywhere, but in Florida in July, “inconvenient” does not begin to cover it. The house became hot and sticky almost immediately. We closed curtains, shifted between the few rooms with portable cooling, and tried not to generate any unnecessary heat. Even cooking became a strategic decision.
What We Notice When Something Stops Working Read More »
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance, a time to honor those who died in military service. Yet my grandfather firmly believed the joy mattered too. The gathering. The laughter. The freedom to enjoy an ordinary afternoon with people we love. In his mind, those things were not distractions from remembrance; they were part of it. They were part of what people fought and died to protect.
(Water)Melon and Memories Read More »
Yesterday was Earth Day. Today is Shakespeare’s birthday. It feels like the universe is asking us to pay attention to cycles — what grows, what endures, what we tend, and what tends us. In As You Like It, the melancholy Jaques famously declares that all the world’s a stage, and one man in his time plays seven parts. He wasn’t wrong. But he left someone out. All the world’s a care home, and all the men and women merely caregivers. They have their exits and their entrances, and one soul in her time tends many parts, each act being one of seven ages of caregiving.
The Seven Ages of Caregiving Read More »
