My being a professional theaterist has made my children, perhaps, a bit weirder than they would otherwise be. The good news is that Silas, at least, has a firm grasp on fiction and reality. When we go see a play, he understands that all those adults are just pretending. He’s been to more rehearsals than […]
While we’re on the subject, I guess I’ll share the other mantra that I carried out of Hiram (many lessons, but just these two mantras): Life is tough. Hiram owns an off-the-grid camp on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Classes go up there sometimes, and they have a five-day backpacking trip for first year students to […]
I went to a very nice liberal arts college. I had exactly the experience you hope your kid will have when you send them to a school with an amazing faculty-to-student ratio, kids hanging out on picnic blankets in the Commons, active study-abroad programs, and minimal access to civilization. It wasn’t cheap, and I thank […]
Our Bradford pears are blooming. Last year, during the derecho, our three massive Bradford pears split in half. These tree chunks ended up on our truck, totaling it. We had been discussing taking the remaining tree bits out before they fell on something else. During the last heavy snow, one of them broke. We’ve been trying […]