I think this is what I love the most about winter. So beautiful. Photographed by Richard Brewster.

Last Sunday we watched the Steelers in the playoffs. It was a very disappointing game. Only the week before, William and Bill had sat in the stands at Heinz Field and watched the game against the Jets go into overtime. Then the Steelers made a field goal that won it, 20-17. It was thrilling, even […]

Let’s go Steelers!

She wanted to wear the hat like this. She really did.

Emma Grace’s room is coming along. We finally managed to strip off the first layer of the border, leaving the icky yellow backing on the wall. That refused to be removed. I sanded it, Bill sanded it, my father sanded it, my mother treated it with a wallpaper remover gel and then tried peeling it […]

“Satisfying. Very satisfying.”

Finally: no border

I had a writing afternoon today, the first in several weeks, the first of the new year. It was great to be back in it, and awful. I spent some time this evening looking for what Annie Dillard has to say about this kind of thing, and she says it so well: “I do not […]

I love coming home from class. Usually my mind is brimming with new thoughts and ideas, and tonight was no exception. And I enjoy so much Dr. Clay’s teaching style. He speaks gently, slowly, and seems to suggest things more than to hammer them home in any way. I remarked to my father, who visited […]

My class for the semester has begun: Utopias, Ancient and Modern. We begin with the beginning, St. Thomas More’s famous book Utopia, regarded by many as the first in the genre of utopian literature. I began reading last night, and first read More’s introduction, directed to a Peter Giles who has, apparently, been waiting for […]