The bitter cold we endured this weekend brought to mind other weather extremes. For me, the Blizzard of ’78, which struck on February 5, 1978, has always been tops in that category. I lived through it as a 19-year-old student at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. As bad as…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog. Optimistic. Intelligent. Articulate. Polished. Upbeat. Confident. Michelle Wu is a great look for Boston. And so was the audience for her State of the City talk last Wednesday, one year into her term as mayor. Several thousand…
My Granny’s Life in Television By Malcolm Sharps Looking back on his childhood in the 50s and later, Malcolm Sharps remembers the defeats and triumph in his uneasy relationship with his grandmother. My grandmother was one of those women that the term ‘old lady’ already comfortably fitted long before her…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. C’mon, guys. Get your act together. Another announcement this weekend of six more classified documents being found in President Biden’s Delaware home. Repeated unforced errors from an administration that promised, unlike its predecessor, to “bring transparency and truth back to…
Boarding School Blues: Chapter 51 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 51: We all fall down The next couple of days slipped by without any holiday fuss. Papa’s convalescence deterred most family members from dropping by at Christmas, despite the invitation to sample home-made egg nog. Ready for holiday-treat-craving tummies, gallons of…
When Lowell received its town charter in 1826, the “domestic” water needs of most people – water for drinking, cooking, and washing – were met by wells that were scattered throughout the area. Also, anyone living near a river, a stream, or even a canal, could and did draw water…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog. You don’t ski? You can’t bear the cold outside? You can stay warm, cozy and energized by making friends with a book. The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis is an unraveling mystery focused on a prominent Israeli cabinet minister who,…
Dry January By David Daniel A few sips into the second martini Alan wonders if this has been a good idea. “We don’t have enough money saved,” his wife says out of the blue, but not a total surprise. It has become a theme lately. “We’re losers.” “Come on, we’re…
Dancing at Holy Ghost Park By Susan April Can’t dance. Never could. First school dance, September, 1969, I tried. Thank God, the lights in the gym were dim. Every boy who asked me ended up shuffling over to a different dance partner, leaving me alone. What was wrong? Were my…
A new poem from our regular contributor Tom Sexton, poet of the Atlantic and Pacific sides of our continent. A former Poet Laureate of Alaska, Tom is on the list of distinguished alumni of Lowell High School, the one in Massachusetts. (FYI, Lowell High School in San Francisco, named for…