My mother had a knack for making anything sound good. Like telling me that raisins were candy. I had to wear orthopedic shoes. They were expensive in those days. But my mother convinced me they were cute. I believed her — until I went to school. When I got to school, I realized that […]
Labor Day meant apples were in season. My mother made a great apple pie. We ate seasonal vegetables. By September, everything in the garden would come ready, especially the tomatoes. My mother canned things and made relish. We switched from summer food to winter food. My mother wasn’t much of a cook, so our […]
Labor Day used to be a time on Cape Cod when everything shut down. Everything simply closed. Downtown Hyannis, and especially the Outer Cape, everything was closed. The Summer People went home. Even though it helped the economy back then, too, it wasn’t anything like it is now. We went from a lot going on […]
It was so good to see Iris. I have one of her mother’s necklaces. It’s from a casino in Jamaica. Out of plastic, from that glamorous time of gambling and drinking and dancing. It’s very old, and has sentimental value for me. Iris signed her new book for me: Iris Apfel Accidental […]
Some of these men had been to the tent sale in previous years. This was not their first rodeo. I give the men credit. It was during that hot, hot weather. The women would come into the tent. The men sat on the porch patiently drinking coffee from Nirvana. No one was impatient, or grouchy, […]
All New Yorkers know about Gray’s Papaya. I’ve been working in New York since 1976, and always gone by it, but never had one of their famous hot dogs. I’d gone to Bloomingdale’s Outlet. It was starting to rain. I went into Gray’s Papaya, and ordered a hot dog and a Coca Cola. The Coke […]
Victoria Falls in is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit some of the other wonders. With all the things going on politically, it makes one think of these wonders. Some have been destroyed. Some are in such dangerous places, one can’t really visit. Why destroy them? […]
Everybody loves a bargain! We need to clean out our warehouse of extra inventory and one-of-a-kind samples. Our goal is to sell EVERYTHING in the tent. We price realistically with that in mind. It’ll bring back memories of Filene’s Basement, with people carrying around armfuls of clothes and trying them on in the back of […]
There’s more than one elephant orphanage in Africa. I visited one in Zimbabwe, run by IFAW and ZEN. Many elephant babies are orphaned when the mothers are killed for their ivory tusks. Animals are slaughtered throughout Africa. Those at the biggest risk are elephants and rhinos. If something isn’t done soon, these animals could only […]
Malaria pills make you sick. Since it was the dry season, I opted not to to take mine. In Africa, Coca Cola still comes in heavy glass bottles. Those cold Cokes tasted so good. I drank more Coke in the one month I was in Africa than I have in the last […]