Summers in California are marked by hands with deep purple liquid running along palm lines and in between the fingers, dripping off the sides and trailing down the wrists, tiny brown hairs stuck to fingers and palms. Every time I look at a pair of […]

I spent my elementary school vacations at my best friend’s home in Los Angeles, California. We grew up in Historic Filipinotown, an enclave home to the city’s first wave of immigrants from the Philippines. Her home had avocado and orange trees, abundant kudzu, and plenty […]

Click to hear Jim’s story   Me: Hi Dad. We’re sitting here in the backyard and I am hoping that you will tell me a story about a plant. Dad: When I was younger my parents used to take my sisters and I up to […]

My daughter developed a decent dose of chicken pox aged 4. Not unwell just a bit sore and itchy…. the poor tolerant child allowed me to experiment. She had baths of oats and just emerged slightly sticky with a warm aroma of ready brek. We […]

  My mother had A garden             She tended it in old deck shoes covered in mud             Supervising her rows in cut offs and a canary bright halter top             The family dog trotted dutifully behind her down the rows of […]

Poison ivy In Connecticut where I grew up, poison ivy is everywhere. The name pretty much tells you not to go near it. It’s covered with an oily resin that can cause a nasty reaction if you touch it. My mom taught us what poison […]

When I was in second grade, we moved out of our apartment in northern Kansas City, Missouri and moved into a house in southern Kansas City. I can remember having to change schools and change friends, and I felt like my world was ending. But […]

  Two planes. Dad stands on the ladder, I’m lying on my back. His hedge trimmer makes straight lines in the foliage. Meanwhile, my brain is trying to absorb infinity: “ Dad what’s at the edge of the universe?” The hedge-trimmer stops. He looks up at […]

From the day I was born to my 28th birthday, I lived in a house in a tiny French village. My family never owned the house. We absolutely loved it, as we had all of our fondest memories there. In the big, green backyard, there […]

When I was born, almost 55 years ago, my father planted a tree—a sugar maple—for me. He planted it probably 10 feet from the driveway, down a small hill. The hill made the branches visible from the kitchen window, a frame for watching it over […]