Across the Fence

Today is Valentine’s Day – for those of you who don’t receive my columns as a subscription, it will have been that yesterday. Anyhow. What does Valentine’s Day mean to us? As givers and as receivers? As experiencers or as bystanders? First of all, Valentine’s Day is a gift for any business that can make […]

Does it happen to you that you return to a childhood place, and everything that once seemed so huge, and high, and wide, and mighty seems all of a sudden so much smaller, lower, narrower, and less imposing? Because you have grown up and have experienced more. And you are, literally, standing taller than back […]

It’s that time of year again – everybody (really everybody?!) will be waiting for the verdict of a tiny animal that lives in the Pennsylvanian town of the name Punxsutawney (‘punk-suh-‘taw-nee). February 2 is traditionally Groundhog Day, and the little critter allegedly predicts whether winter will last. This is how it works: If it sees […]

Have you ever been up to “The Mountain”, as South Puget Sounders call Mt. Rainier? Well, if you are living in the vicinity and up to taking the drive and the fee at the park entrance, you shouldn’t miss out on this. And if you are compelled to stay home, let me at least virtually […]

Have you ever been to Hamburg, Germany? It’s a lovely city! Why, though, is it the namesake of a meat patty between two halves of a bun, accompanied by all kinds of other toppings? And what makes it so different from a meatloaf/mock hare, meatballs/Klops, and Bouletten/Frikadellen when they are all made from ground meat? […]

Have you ever been to an estate sale? Have you noticed how much stuff, if not to say clutter in some of these homes has accumulated over a lifetime? Now everything is for sale, even rolling pins without handles and boxes filled with rusty nails, old manuals and shot glasses from travel destinations. And everything […]