Don’t get me started because you’ll never get me to stop-oops, too late! — The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man. T.S.Eliot I am crazy for libraries. I love a library with marble steps, giant portraits of founders, stone pillars, a fountain, carved mahogany circulation desk, and a bathroom with toilet…

Photoshoots and editorial meetings are fun when we are in charge — Jane and I met on the Bridge of Flowers last weekend for a photoshoot in preparation for the launch of our new publication Karen and Jane’s 100 Words for 100 Days Challenge. It was early evening and most of the tourists were gone. The river danced and sparkled, flowing slowly…

New year, new beginnings — Happy New Year to us! Here we are entering another year in crisis- global pandemic, war, famine, environmental catastrophe. How are we gonna find a way to keep going forward? How are we going to set things right? I wish I had the answers. All I have to offer is…

I Dance in Libraries with a Snake — I am happy, a dancer, and a mom. I perform in schools, libraries and at cultural events as Hadama Seshat. American Cabaret style belly dancers choose a stage name that reflects their aesthetic or higher calling. When I joined The Crescent Dancers in 2002, I needed a name. My screen…

Ode to my garden in August — I’ve surrendered to the rocky soil, drought, aphids, voles, deer and raccoons. My dreams of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and beans are a distant memory now. The scrawny pale pepper plant with the bug-munched leaves is the lone cultivar among the thriving weeds. Lambs quarters, quack grass, bindweed, nutsedge; the garden…

She is the small town librarian through the years — If I were in charge, Librarians would rule the world. There have been thirteen Library Directors since the establishment of the free public library in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. From Miss Mary Clark who began her service in 1894, to Ms. Mary Anne Antonellis who was hired in 2008, each has contributed…

The sad answer is yes — There’s no escaping the fact that humans consider themselves the supreme rulers of earth. Breeding cows, enslaving horses, kidnapping baby chimps, and torturing cats, dogs, and our primate cousins in the name of science are among the reasons two-legged animals are barbarians. The latest outrage is the murder of Freya…

Sometimes it takes years for that sentence to grow up — “Well, that’s a good day’s work,” I thought as I closed my laptop. I was writing about my experience at Bay Path University’s Summer Writing Seminar in Ireland in 2017. The words flowed easily. I simply wrote what happened. “I met Dinty Moore in a whisky bar in Dingle.” Five…

The Last Whisky she ever drank was Writers Tears — It was a Thursday evening in late July when she walked into Foxy John’s whisky bar and hardware store in Dingle. She was wearing her favorite blue flowered sundress that showed off her legs. …