For the last several years, I’ve used the 1996 Broadway Musical Rent song, written by Jonathan Larson: Seasons of Love, as my signature sign-off for the year. The song’s lyrics ask what the proper way is to quantify the value of a year of human life in 525,600 minutes. Here is the equation: 365 days × 24 hours per day × 60 minutes per hour = 525,600 minutes in a year. Plus, over the last two weeks, I’ve been pondering how to end my blog on the last day of the year, capturing

My friend, Heat (also known as Heather) Dziczek, is on fire with her CancerCards . I think her work on what not to say to people with...

It's been a minute since my last post, but I traveled to Richmond, Virginia, last week for the Road2VA quilt show and spent the week...

Ciao! Let’s talk Gelato! For starters, on this delightful dessert in Italy (and many other places), I am a bona fide weirdo when it comes...

Ciao Ciao Roma! Despite having pinkeye now with itchy eyes and gunk blurring my vision at times, I had eagle eyes in Rome in May 2025 to...

There is a lot in life to be thankful for, and our trip to Italy (and any travel, frankly) was a huge blessing for my family and dear...

Access to the Pantheon had historically been free for centuries, even millennia. Thirty years ago, I walked in and out of this site at...

The Villa Vada in Poggibonsi was a terrific place for a baker’s dozen family and friends to rest, reset, and roam the breathtaking Tuscan...

Ciao! Wow, this is the longest I have not blogged—six days— in over twelve years! It's been a minute to get myself together after the...

Ciao! Our rented Villa Vada and the Annex off the main building could accommodate up to 15 people. We had twelve and a baby in the...

Almost Ready and Packed. We leave the house at Noon. I’ve stopped the mail. Hubby Bill mowed the front and backyard, our dishes from...

It’s May 1 – May Day—when Workers’ Day commemorates the struggles and gains made by workers and the labor movement, woven from ancient...