Despite the high critical praise he receives, I’ve always felt Ernest Hemingway was an overrated writer.  Maybe his chauvinistic sweat offends me.  That shouldn’t be a reason for shunning his art, of course, but it does explain why his female characters are so flat and docile &#

Sometimes, in the late afternoons, a woman comes down from the second floor of the retirement center to sit in our small café. She always orders a glass of white wine.  With the chilled liquid in front of her,  she gazes into the tall trees that sway outside the picture windows. 

No, it’s not nostalgia.  Life was simpler in the good old days.  Sex for example. When I was growing up, people were either heterosexual or homosexual.  Then male homosexuals and female homosexuals had a falling out and we had three divides: heterosexual, gay and lesbian.  I had

On the corner of my large writing desk, I’m collecting a stack of articles written by women about what it means to be a woman.  One day, I hope to write a feminist manifesto based upon these essays.   I say a manifesto and not the manifesto,” because my intent is to open possib

We’ve often been told that appearance is linked to success: first impressions stick and they affect how we’re treated.  Women tend to take these admonitions seriously.  After all, so much of their place in history has been the consequence of their looks.  Promise a woman a “f

(Introducing guest blogger, Sydney Stevens a history writer who also publishes a daily blog about life in a small community.  I hope my readers might enjoy a change of pace and meet a wonderful blogger. www.sydneyofoysterville.com) Yesterday my husband and I went with good friends on

WEIRD is how someone might describe Sherlock Holmes.  The term is psychological parlance to describe people who think logically when problem-solving.  (“The Science of How We Vote” Scientific American Mind, May/June 2016, pg. 8.)  15% of the world’s cultures think WEIRDly, mo

Not long ago, I sat down to dinner at the retirement center with a woman I’d never met.  We got along well but before the cheesecake arrived, she was in tears, telling me her version of  the “perfume wars.”  She loved perfume, she confessed, and as she spends much of her life

When my dad wanted to break the tedium of life, he’d get in his truck and drive off to the nearest sporting goods store.    Two or three hours later he’d be back home with a new fishing rod or reel that put a smile on his face.  I suspect many men have worn a similar smile, ha

There must have been a time when I cared about my wardrobe, but that was too long ago to remember.  In college, I wore levis and sweaters.  Later, as I travelled the globe, my wardrobe remained the same.  Being elected to public office required some refinements.  I bought pantyhos