Today marks the 20th day the four of us have been in isolation at home. It feels like an eternity. One way I’ve watched the progression of how seriously people are taking the coronavirus is through the lens of what is happening at my local grocery store. Because, you know, that’s the excitement these days, going … Continue reading Day 20: We Laugh
Last holiday season, when I worked at the Barnes & Noble in Minnesota, a clean-cut 30-something man, about my age, approached me at the information desk. His short, sandy hair was neatly trimmed, his face freshly shaved, and he wore a grass-green long-sleeved polo, tucked into khaki chinos. He stepped up to the counter where … Continue reading Lost Balls
“So, have you noticed that irony is super trendy now?” I dealt Phase 10 cards to Amy and my two kids. “‘The Ironic Generation.’ I keep hearing that. What does that even mean? That people want to live off the grid, yet they can’t survive without Facebook and Twitter?” Amy fanned and arranged the cards … Continue reading Ironic table talk (R)
Today is the anniversary of my first post, One Last Move, on June 7, 2012 on Butterfly Mind. In that first post, and in many subsequent ones, I wrote about trying to find my way as an at-home mom when our children both went off to elementary school, leaving me alone in quiet, not for … Continue reading Best of Butterfly Mind
One morning, when the kids were 5 and 7, and I was standing at the chopping block cutting crusts off sandwiches, I heard our son say to his little sister, “Do you know the ‘D’ word?” He and our daughter slurped cereal at the kitchen table a few feet behind me. I paused imperceptibly, remained … Continue reading Do you know the “F” word?
Dangling prepositions, also known as “preposition stranding,” are not, in fact, grammatically incorrect. Let me say that again. Or let Mike Vuolo say it in Slate magazine’s inaugural, deliciously dorky Lexicon Valley podcast episode, “A Sin of Which None is Guilty:” “It really is one of the biggest myths in the English language, this idea … Continue reading Why is this not headline news?!
