top of page
Search
All Posts
Reunion
Columbia High School Class of 1975 This past weekend, I attended my 50 th high school reunion. Granted, that’s a somewhat sobering milestone and yet it felt flat-out wonderful to reconnect with old friends. Lots of conversations started with “Do you remember the time we…” or “I’ll never forget when this happened …” and it felt so damn good to be with the people who knew us at that magical time in our lives when we were young and idiotic and filled with dreams. Our class g
Anne Moul
16 hours ago
Leaving Places
Photo by Jared Wood on Unsplash Leaving places is hard. I’m not talking about moving to a new town or retiring from a job but leaving...
Anne Moul
Oct 10
Confessions of a Reluctant Traveler
My husband and I just returned from a ten-day trip to California. From wine-tastings at vineyards owned by generations of the same family...
Anne Moul
Sep 26
The Gray Bucket
Every week, Linda maneuvered herself in the door from the garage carrying mops and a gray plastic bucket filled with cleaning supplies,...
Anne Moul
Aug 12
A Glimpse of the Other Side
This morning, my husband and I handed packages of food to individuals who lived in trailers, in a dank room in a seedy hotel, in a lovely...
Anne Moul
Jul 25
The Choir Life
One of the sopranos adjusts the white tie and collar of the 90-year-old bass who still sings with great joy and skill. After the concert,...
Anne Moul
May 17
Gardening 101
We planted the garden this week, and it feels like starting off a new school year. Everyone is sitting politely in neat little rows, and...
Anne Moul
May 9
Rite of Spring
We’re back at the beach for the second time in three weeks. We had planned to finish house cleaning and pre-season chores in early April, but that’s when one of our dogs has to have ACL surgery, as a result of over-exuberant squirrel chasing.
We clean the oven and coffeemaker and power wash the deck furniture. We wipe the light fixtures and ceiling fans, vacuum underneath couch cushions and wash windows. A man comes to install impossibly green squares of sod on the part of o
Anne Moul
Mar 26
Kitchen Tables
Our new kitchen table and chairs arrived last week. When you make a purchase based on a digital rendering on a screen, you’re never quite sure what you’re getting. But this set is exactly what we wanted— beautifully distressed and swirled wood complete with “wormholes” handcrafted by Amish cabinetmakers in Ohio. Counter-height swivel chairs offer a better backyard view of wild birds at the feeders, deer in the fencerow, and our dogs on squirrel reconnaissance. A young family
Anne Moul
Feb 21
Here's What I Know About Immigrants
Fifteen years ago this week, I was lying in a Manhattan hospital recovering from a back surgery that almost killed me. Yes, the brilliant doctor who straightened my crooked spine and changed my life was white. But the people who got me through the day-to-day did not speak English as their first language. And to a one, they were superb. Julio, was my very own ICU recovery nurse who brought me ice chips and spoke words of comfort and reassurance when I woke up intubated and wit
Anne Moul
Jan 31
The Christmas Village
I almost didn’t set up the village this year. I bought a lovely candle set from Kirkland’s (dangerous store) that looked great sitting in that same space. Was thinking it might finally be time to retire the Christmas town and go classy instead of tacky. Some of the houses are separating from their foundations or have caved in cardboard walls and tilting chimneys. Aunt Marie’s ceramic Christmas tree occasionally has seizures of flickering lights. And then I heard some slick bl
Anne Moul
Dec 24, 2024
Cemetery Visit
My husband and I spent time in cemeteries this week. Every year, we place Christmas wreaths on the graves of our loved ones, because, well, it’s a tradition learned in childhood and one that brings us a sense of continuity, of keeping family memories alive. We are good stewards, using artificial wreaths that we retrieve after the holiday and store in our basement the rest of the year. Sadly, we added another wreath for an aunt who passed away in October after a rich and full
Anne Moul
Dec 11, 2024
Ocean Pines Thanksgiving
We are spending a quiet Thanksgiving at the beach. Fall has been filled with travel, rehearsals, and sadly, a funeral for a beloved family member. My husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary at a dinner shared with wonderful friends. There have been meetings and interviews, a new church choir director, drum corps trips, a good report on a mammogram, a run to the emergency vet for one of our dogs, and, Lord have mercy, the election of a convicted felon who plans
Anne Moul
Nov 28, 2024
Visiting the Flight 93 Memorial in 2024
Last week, on the way to a wedding in Ohio, we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial near Stoysville, Pennsylvania. It is a somber place in the middle of nowhere. The weather was crisp and cool with brilliant blue skies, similar to the weather on September 11, 2001. A large boulder placed in a field marks the exact spot of the crash. At the visitor’s center, a number of interactive displays detail the tragic events that occurred that day, forever changing a rural part of our stat
Anne Moul
Oct 28, 2024
In Praise of the Humble File Cabinet
We still own several file cabinets. I know, I know, everything should now be stored electronically, so who needs them? But there’s something to be said for being able to easily find a hard copy of a document without having to pay homage to the almighty gods of internet security. Honestly, I think there’s far more security risk from bad actors infiltrating my laptop (and these days, even the cloud) than from them breaking into our house to root through paper files. Don't get m
Anne Moul
Sep 9, 2024
Totally random things I’ve seen recently that lift my spirits (in no particular order):
Watching young teens waiting on customers at their family’s market stand, carefully counting out change (yes, cash is still king at the farmer’s market) and occasionally glancing back at the adults to make sure they’re doing everything correctly.
The beaming face of a neurodiverse young woman getting a manicure at the nail salon. She was thrilled with her green and white nails, showing them off to everyone. Time and again, I have seen the professionals who work there tre
Anne Moul
Jul 15, 2024
Why I Love The Bear
If you have never seen an episode of The Bear, it’s worth getting a trial subscription to Hulu just to watch 3 seasons of this show.
The Bear is about a highly dysfunctional yet somehow loving family in Chicago who runs a small Italian beef sandwich shop. When tragedy strikes, the son who is training to be a gourmet chef in New York City comes home to manage the restaurant. Without giving too much away, chaos ensues. Yes, this show is filled with the F word and there’s lots
Anne Moul
Jul 1, 2024
Travel Planning 2024
I am not a seasoned traveler. That being said, I’ve travelled most of the East Coast, been part of several group trips to Europe, and visited resorts in Jamaica and Cancun. I enjoy seeing new places and experiencing the world up-close and in person, but extended or over-the-top adventurous travel is not something I have a great need to do. That’s just how I’m wired.
My husband and I are planning annual 7-10 day jaunts to parts of our own country that we have never seen and s
Anne Moul
May 12, 2024
Noise During Church
At church last night, during one of the most solemn and holy nights of the Christian year, I could hear cars outside with basses thumping at mind-numbing levels. Sirens screamed because someone needed help, or a crime was being committed somewhere. Shouts and laughter from passersby along with traffic noise intruded on the powerful story of salvation being portrayed in front of me.
From where I sit in the choir of this church, I often hear the sounds of an urban neighborhood
Anne Moul
Mar 30, 2024
bottom of page