Wisteria Lame
Early black and white photographs of my childhood home capture the wisteria that grew on a trellis by the arch-topped living room door. Through years of renovations, the bush bloomed with ferocity every spring — its lavender petals hanging like Japanese lanterns, followed shortly by the fuzz-covered teardrop pods. Melissa’s childhood home had a wisteria...
Denial on Deporch
One of our porch steps is rotting. Not long ago, we had our porch redone. And although subject to New England weather fluctuations, damp, arctic and tropical, the porch has held up well. All except this one step, which was in the path of a leaky gutter for a couple of years. It now presents...
Cause for alarm
“I have some good news,” Rodrigro, my caretaker out in Lake Polvo said, “and some bad news.” He allowed me to decide which one I wanted to hear first, but while I was deciding he saved me the trouble. “They broke into the kitchen.” He said. My heart sunk. “But they didn’t take anything, as...
Have a seat
Every trip out to Lake Polvo has been a big money eater. Each time we go out there, we rent a car at the airport, which costs more than an airplane ticket. So, last time we were there, we bought a used car from our Realtor’s husband. If I told you the maker of the...
Vintage dust
Our house on Rusty Hinge Road is nothing if not reliable for its creaky floors and arctic drafts, typical to a house of its vintage and locale. And we have spent years attending to the various weatherizing needs our New England environment requires. So, adjusting to our new life in the Arizona desert has been...
Just screwing around
Our house on Rusty Hinge Road is like an unfinished sandwich. Which is to say that the attic and the basement — the metaphorical bread — still await finishing touches, while the middle two floors — the meat — have been redone. While those last few last projects linger, I often look around and notice...
No news is good news
Forty years ago, with bagless, dewy eyes, someone, somewhere was moved to plan it. They advertised — we all chipped in — probably in the Times, while local, like-minded groups organized. Then someone hired a bus and before the sun was in the sky, we climbed aboard. Hours later, in the shadow of national marble,...
Floss on the mill
Listen up kids: Take care of your teeth. First and foremost, make sure you have good genes. My mother had troublesome teeth. Lamented all of her lifetime that she had worn braces for 12 years to adjust her “lantern jaw,” which, in spite of the orthodontia, went with her to her grave and passed on...
Irene irony
We collect a lot of things. In our basement. For example, we have a stack of grocery bags from Trader Joe’s, a bag of unused wine bottle corks and several bags of dryer lint. Hear me out. As artists, all of these things — including several Costco empty mixed-nut jugs — are of potential value...
La Posada Cinta Roja
Every once in a while a reader will ask me, “Where do you get your ideas?” I politely inform them that everything I write is true. I can no more write fiction than I can speak Swahili, bwana. Our adobe is in a small but sprawling town in the middle of the desert southwest. The...
