Essays

My father wasn’t much of a cook but he always washed the dinner dishes. It was my job to dry and put them away.

Sometimes my mother would ask, in a not-happy voice, “Who was your servant last year?” I knew the answer and she knew I knew.

When I first met Betty she looked up from her book of wild flowers, gave me quick greeting and returned to her task of identifying a flower she had found in the woods.

For the first hour, paddling seems effortless and I watch the scenery going by .... By hour two, my back is aching but when I cross my legs, the ache is gone.

The advice you get when you take a boat out on a like turns out to be pretty good life advice, too.

What should become of decades of excellent recordings of Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp student performances that also include adults who are alleged to have caused great harm to students?

Practicing piano for popularity, with a healthy dose of youthful skepticism.

I understand the wish for privacy and I share it. But it’s a fine line—a property line—and we also have a responsibility to the people on the other side.