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 […]