Category Archives: Uncategorized

“The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, reported last year that more than a third of normal-weight women and more than half of overweight and obese women gain more weight than is recommended during … Continue reading →

I recently really messed up.  I put down “September 30th” as the date of our arrival in England, so that’s the start date that the UK border agency gave us for our visas.  The problem is, we had bought plane … Continue reading →

I’m working my way through Faulkner’s letters, and you get the occasional gem.  In a an August, 1961 letter to his editor, “Hot as hell here, as usual.  Now it’s 64 years I have said I’ll never spend another summer … Continue reading →

As the daughter of a Southerner, and one who was instructed to use “ma’am” as a term of respect, I was chagrined to read this NYTimes piece, in which a “completely unscientific poll” supported the anecdotal evidence of the article … Continue reading →

One of the things we’ve been wrestling with this summer is a profusion of unhelpful businesses.  We’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork from Cornell, Oxford, and our house-rental agency, much of which is just frustrating in that … Continue reading →

We got word today that our visas have been approved.  Big sigh of relief.  I will wait to be fully enthralled until we have them in our hands (and until I can see that they were granted for the length … Continue reading →

In a letter to his mother during his European Tour: “I have a nice room just around the corner from the Luxembourg gardens, where I can sit and write and watch the children.  Everything in the gardens is for children–its … Continue reading →

Yesterday the whole family went to Nelson’s cafe for dinner, using my birthday as an excuse.  Sydney’s mom, Dora, brought me a huge arrangement of flowers from their garden, with layers of gladioli, sunflowers, and marigolds, and Katherine was given … Continue reading →

Last Sunday a group of people from Sydney’s extended family got together to walk Cape Split, a hike that’s five miles out to a spectacular view on the edge of the rocks that jut out into the Bay of Fundy.  … Continue reading →

When looking for places to stay for a short while in Oxford: “Oh wow.  This place has that old-fashioned electricity system . . . [and after a blank look from me] . . . where you feed coins into the … Continue reading →