Amy Lowell was born in 1874 in Brookline, Massachusetts; she died in the same town when she was just 51. In 1926—the year after she died—she was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
She was in her thirties before she began to seriously write poetry, publishing her first book in 1912 and going on to publish many more books, edit anthologies, publish criticism, and promote and support contemporary as well as historical poets.

Halloween. Trick or Treat. Kids dressing up. Adults handing out free candy.

What’s not to love...unless your child is a child who has allergies or sensitivities to things like nuts, milk, soy, wheat, eggs, and/or any other triggers. Many sugary treats just won’t work for those kids. And, for one in every 13 children in the United States, there are dangerous consequences in consuming trigger foods that cause allergic reactions.

October 9th’s full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon.

The Hunter’s Moon. What a lovely and evocative name for a moon.

In 2021, Off the Wagon opened a second store to complement its Kent location. This Off the Wagon is located in Chagrin Falls. And it is amazing!

You must visit Off the Wagon to truly appreciate its quirky, fun charm. It is a toy store. Yes. But it is so much more...

After more than two years of the pandemic, the summer of 2022 felt like it would be the time to reconnect with friends. Yes...throughout the pandemic we purposefully worked to be in touch via phone, Zoom, FaceTime, emails, texts, exchanging of Instagram pics, Facebook followings, and good old-fashioned cards and letters. BUT...I “needed” real, in-person contact with friends. Lunches! Dinners! Long walks! Maybe even shopping!

Our trip to Quebec City was supposed to happen in August 2021. But...like so many things...Covid got in the way, and it was rescheduled.

It was another Road Scholar trip (highly recommended)...Hiking and Walking in Quebec City (and environs), and it was just wonderful.

I felt as though I had been transported to an old European city. QC is the only walled city north of Mexico. It is clean, safe, beautiful, and charming. French is the language, but most people in the city are fluent in English...and everyone we met was warm and friendly.

Last August my potted parsley plant suddenly sprouted pretty green and black caterpillars. These voracious foragers began to decimate my parsley, taking tiny bites for hours on end. At the peak of this eating season, there were 22 caterpillars.

I went recently to Cleveland’s Museum of Natural History because (1) I love the Museum and all of its bugs and bones and beautiful things and (2) because my friend, Natalie, played an important role in preparing the current special exhibit: 100 Years of Discovery: A Museum’s Past, Present & Future.

Issue #12 of The Poeming Pigeon will be released near the end of October, and I am delighted that my poem “Rosemary” is included among the poems.

The Poeming Pigeon is a marvelous print journal of poetry and artwork. 92 poets and artists from all around the world are included in this new issue and the cover (designed by Robert R. Sanders) features a gorgeous piece of art created by Oregon artist Jennifer Lommers: “Bear and Peacock.”

My older sister was born on July 29, 1953. She died on January 10, 2017.

In the years between the bookends of her birth and her death, she lived quite a life. In the 70s, she (and friends) traveled to Egypt (when no one else we knew made that journey) because she loved the whole notion of pyramids and Cleopatra and the Nile. She traveled to Hawaii, too, not because she loved the beach and the ocean (she could not swim) but because it was an adventure.

Heart Speaks, Is Spoken For is a remarkable book of poems and companion photographs—written by Marjorie Maddox, photographed by Karen Elias, and published by Shanti Arts Publishing in Brunswick Maine.

“Let’s try Edwins,” my husband said to me...after watching a 7-minute, CBS News segment about the restaurant.

Edwins—located in Shaker Square in Cleveland—is a French restaurant that opened in November 2013 and is the culmination of founder Brandon Edwin Chrostowski’s EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute.

During the summer of 2020—when the pandemic raged and there were no protective vaccinations—my neighbor began to host occasional Movie Nights in the Neighborhood. It helps that we live on a dead-end street and that our neighbors are affable and, truly, quite lovely. Everyone sits in lawn chairs (socially distanced), and we often bring snacks to share (Italian ice, Dilly Bars, homemade cookies, chips, jello shots). One neighbor even wheels out a microwave on a stand, and we make popcorn. It is (and was, during the height of the pandemic) a great way to spend summer evenings.

In May, I decided to focus my Facebook and Instagram pages on something that was not political or controversial in any way. I was seeking a kind of respite or relief from things that made me sad or angry or frustrated.

Since the start of the pandemic, my husband and I have attended very few (as in...a total of 3) live concerts. Even thought we both are doubled vaccinated and double boosted, the various variants and concerns over long-haul COVID have kept us masking and avoiding crowds (as much as is possible).

Thankfully, we love to hike, and my husband is an avid cyclist and golfer, so it is not as though we are sitting around with nothing to occupy time. BUT...we definitely miss going to concerts.

On September 17 and 18, 2022, my favorite cycling team will be riding their bikes in the Huntington Towpath Trail Century Ride. They will pedal 101 miles—from Cleveland to New Philadelphia—with other riders...all in support of the Towpath Trail that our family frequently enjoys.

Team Buttheads: Cheeky Riders is a team of just two: my husband, Al Bartholet, and my daughter, Lysa Anderson. This is their third ride, so I know they know how much training is required to be successful.

I embrace Pride Month and my many LGBTQ friends; however, as I began to write this blog post, I realized that I really did not know how the tradition began. That realization led me to try to educate myself about the origins of Pride month, and this is what I learned...