Beyond the sculpted hedges and enormous Gulfshore mansions of Naples, there’s a less orderly life in southwest Florida. It’s a little bit wild and sometimes it’s even secluded. Almost. The almost-seclusion and wildlife of the barrier and interior islands are what I love about his…
I like mine with lettuce and tomato Heinz 57 and French-fried potatoes A big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer Well good God Almighty which way do I steer? This is it. This is the Cheeseburger in Paradise. The burgers at the Cabbage Key…
You know how back in the day we played vinyl records on a turntable? You put a needle down on the record and the turntable turned and beautiful music came out of a piece of plastic. Remember how your little brother would grab the needle…
Last night my husband reminded me that back in 2008 we had heavy snow in April. I know better than to doubt him when he says stuff like this. He keeps a daily journal and the man has weather data–charts, graphs, trends, histories. Data. But…
Goodbye, old man. Thanks for your long but spotty service. Your grill was a dud, your burners were fickle and the older you got, the harder you became to work with. I aspire to be like you when I’m in my 90s which is how…
Last summer’s wind storms and disease claimed three of our old burr oaks this week. For the first time ever I cried over trees. My husband kept saying we’ll plant more, we’ll plant more but I don’t think we’ll be here in 150 years to…
We’ve blissed out on the cold clean air of northeastern Minnesota these past three days. Maybe we’ve also blissed out on some gasoline fumes from passing snowmobiles and since we were on the south end of five north-bound dogs, we might have inhaled some dog…
My stove and ovens are dying. We’re down to two working gas burners, a toaster oven and a crockpot. One-pot meals are good. Take-out is fun. I love toast. It’s not like we’re starving. But I miss cooking and baking. A lot. New appliances are…
