The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is always a strange period. The kids are out of school... Read More

It was Christmas Eve. Gray, cold, windy. The last customer had just left. The bookseller had humored her... Read More

It is cold and drizzly outside. The woodstove has the temperature inside near 70. I'm bundled in bed... Read More

The forest floor is littered with the skeletons of dead trees. Felled by age or disease or misadventure... Read More

I am driving up I95 from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Two tough cities that at various times have been homes... Read More

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble. Ancient footprints are everywhere. You can almost think... Read More