Sassafras Mama

Yesterday morning I opened my e-mail to a message from the state of New Jersey that it was my turn to schedule a vaccine.   After a few seco...

I love my country with a depth that has fostered a career spent teaching about its history and politics.   I am a patriot who named her only...

The backstory:   It’s Christmas Eve and the town fire department sirens are growing closer.   My mom and I set out on the front po...

Last weekend, T and I went to Sunset Diner, as one does when one lives in New Jersey.   My previous calls for public soundtracks t...

On Monday afternoon, I headed to Costco at 3 pm.   I was pleased that I had avoided the weekend crowds and I naively assumed that ...

One of the most notable features of life lived on the Nebraska plains is the wind.  It blows often on the prairie and in the Winter the blo...

The backstory:  Last weekend, T and I were at Holmdel Park waiting for JT to run a cross country race.  This was a big race event and the f...

The backstory:   Like every place, New Jersey has its own particular culture.  It is a running joke in my family that you can’t go to a pub...

One of the things that T and I have in common is the fact that we aren't New Jersey natives.  In addition to that, we've both lived...

The backstory:   We were at DFW airport, taking the airport train from one terminal to another.  The ride took us around miles and miles of ...

The Governor of my state, known to me as Governor Jersey Shore because of his ridiculous buffoon-like rhetoric and attitude, is forever brag...

I've written before of the largesse of the country store in T's town .  The place is a veritable wonderland and though it seems sma...

One of the things that T and I have in common is that we both lived in the midwest.  While I have just 8 years of heartland experience on my...

A few months ago, I noticed this sign, conveniently located near the train tracks that head south through my fair town. New Jersey has a lo...

Last weekend, I spent some time with my friend T, who lives in the woods at the Delaware Water Gap.  This part of New Jersey is unbelievably...

Blueberry season has arrived and that means a non-stop blueberry festival in my kitchen.  Yesterday, for the last day of school, we had blue...

New Jersey is awash in agri-tourism farms and on Friday we set off to visit one located nearby, Alstede Farms .  We went with my neighbor, M...

We landed perfect weather for the long weekend and on Sunday afternoon, we headed south to visit my friend Sharkbutt and enjoy a last day at...

The backstory: On the drive to school the other day, we were temporarily behind a shiny black car with a large sticker in the back window wh...

August never passes that I don't reflect on the ways that my life has often changed in the eighth month of the year. August is my month...