We’re all having an Epiphany

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – JANUARY 2, 2008

NOW THAT IT’S January, let me be the first to wish you a Happy Epiphany. And while this is largely a religious observance, our family sees it as a holiday grace period.

For instance, we take down the tree on the Epiphany, providing it hasn’t already fallen down. It’s much lighter this way, because the needles have dropped into little brown piles on the floor. So have some of the ornaments.

We’ve also made Jan. 6 our new deadline for getting out greeting cards. That gives us 12 extra days of Christmas in which to chronicle our family’s many achievements in a card with a photo of the kids and the cat.

Finally, it’s an opportunity to have one last holiday party before tax time comes and spoils all the fun. I’ll be going to an Epiphany party and I hope you will too. After all, isn’t that New Year’s diet getting a little old already?

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Show will go on on Picardy

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – DECEMBER 19, 2008

AN OPEN LETTER to my Oakland neighbors: I’ve been noticing the effort you’ve put into decorating your yards for the holidays and I want to thank you. The cascading blue lights are magical and the treetop twinklers are heavenly. I get goose bumps when I see icicle lights on the rooftops and candy canes lining your walks.

So you can see why I was concerned when a reader called with an alarming report: The lights were not up on Oakland’s Christmas Lane this year. Continue reading →

THE HAPPY WANDERER – MINNESOTA ICE FISHING

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM – DECEMBER 19, 2008

AS WE GET ready to welcome Old Man Winter, we can be thankful we don’t ginny-fishing1live in Northern Minnesota. Or can we? We might just be missing a heck of a lot of fun in the form of a sport called ice-fishing.

On the surface, the idea sounds kind of wacky — fishing on ice in the dead of winter. But then a 10-pound walleye tugs at your line, and things get hot in a hurry. Or did someone just turn up the thermostat?

That’s right. Ice fishing has evolved from the days when folks sat on stools with wool mufflers wrapped around their necks and transistor radios by their sides. Continue reading →

Let there be light

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – DECEMBER 12, 2008

A rare December snowfall in the Oakland hills

A rare December snowfall in the Oakland hills

Let there be light! Zillions of little LED lights are spreading holiday cheer across the land. The Oakland Zoo http://www.oaklandzoo.org/ got a big batch of them from China this year, and unlike last year, they actually work. Look for the Zoo Lights event to be one of the best ever – especially with the prospect of a dry December. Continue reading →

Finding peace with chair massage

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – NOVEMBER 23, 2008

“If the world is bringing you to your knees, you might as well stay there awhile.”

— The Town Crier

THAT BRILLIANT QUOTE came to me when I was having a chair massage at Kilalo Studio in Montclair the other day. With my fully-clothed body sprawled across the plush leather apparatus, I couldn’t have been more at peace. Continue reading →

College trip sparks memories of past

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – NOVEMBER 8, 2008athens

I FEEL LIKE a young schoolgirl again, having just returned from my daughter’s new college. When did she become so mature? Where did she find time to learn, not just the campus — the University of Georgia is huge — but the best restaurants in town?

As she led me around at a frantic pace, I pictured myself rushing to class and then off to a frat party or campus event. I imagined taking notes in a lecture while the guy next to me slept. I saw myself eating in the dining hall and having seconds on dessert. Continue reading →