Waiting on the lawn at UVA to watch my granddaughter graduate all of us were filled with anticipation. This was a real triumph for her because she had a rocky final year of high school. But she persevered and went, first, to Piedmont Community College for two years where she earned great grades. She then completed her degree with two years of study at UVA. We are so proud of her because she has true “grit” and a will to…
Peanut Butter the pony I was ten years old, and he was the love of my life: Peanut Butter, a palomino pony who was exactly 14.2 hands, technically a pony rather than a horse. This meant I could ride in large pony classes in horse shows rather than the regular adult classes. This was supposed to give me a better chance to win, but Peanuts was no show horse! My father knew I wanted to have my pony located in…
People used to dress differently. A lot differently. Part of the difference was tradition from an even earlier age, but it was also because they cared about what others thought of how they were dressed. It was somewhat showing off. It was a sign of affluence to have many changes of clothes. In the 1800s, a woman might have only two dresses. One, an everyday dress, and the second, a Sunday ‘go-to-meeting dress.’ To be clean, she would change her…
The idea of getting married is now considered controversial.How did that happen? Two-time Super Bowl champion kicker Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs delivered a speech to graduates at Georgia Tech on May 6, 2023. He gave this advice: “Get married and start a family”. He said this in reference to finding a way to better people’s lives in this country. Some people cheered when he said it. Some did not. And it has gone viral as a “controversial…
Do you know about Stretch Lab? I was so wrong about them. The name scared me. I have seen the name on a storefront and heard an ad for the place on the radio. Yet each time, I was filled with dread because I have a lot of trouble “stretching.” The very idea is painful. So I was in no way interested in increasing my own stretching. But I did not understand. They need to improve their signage to let…
Do you belong to a hate group? Is it a political party, or a group of people whose sexual identity is off-center? Perhaps it is an ethnic group? Race is the sure way to peg someone “different”. What about a religious group, or perhaps it is a group of skeptics who revile other groups who believe differently? Do you know what your group believes about “others”? Or do you just assume that they are open-minded and balanced? Sometimes people find…
My plants are thirsty. Sometimes it seems they are asking for water by some subliminal method. I feel their thirst and their desire to have me provide water. I supply them readily, soaking the orchids in water and letting them drain for several hours in the sink. None of that “icecube melting” for my orchids, no indeed. The slanting morning sun glints off of several, silver champaign coolers which hold multiple orchids, dyed pastel colors. Slightly sheer but, opaque enough…
As I sit outside on this lovely Spring day, awash with pollen from the many flowering trees and the budding leaves of deciduous trees that are so early to leaf out this year, I ponder. While I sit here in warm sunlight watching my dogs accustom themselves to my new puppy there are hundreds of political prisoners sitting in disgusting, solitary cells in Washington DC. The rules have been changed and the government is holding these men without trial, often…
Of course, it is too soon. It is way too soon to replace my beloved dog, Magnus. But when you want a new dog they are not always available. So it is best to act immediately if you learn about a good one. And that is what happened. Everyone knew how sad I was to lose Magnus. They wanted to make me happy. “I am happy,” I said. “Magnus was my most demanding dog. He had me running to let…
My dog Magnus died Saturday night. He seemed fine and was roughhousing with Sisi my small red smooth coated female at 8 o’clock but when I went to let him out before bed he didn’t come. I looked for him and found him dead in my closet stiff and cold. He must have gone in there to die soon after I saw them playing! It is always a shock to lose a dog. And Magnus was such a sweetheart! I…
On the night of my debutante ball, Richard Nixon, who was Vice President, and his wife, Pat, came over early with their two adolescent daughters, Julie and Tricia. They wanted to see the tent and the decorations before the extraordinary debutante party my parents gave for me at Underoak, our beautiful estate. Walter Sharon, the florist, was there, too, working on the flowers. Ridgewells Caterers were setting up for the breakfast to be served later. The “A 1 Tent Company”…
To please my father as well as myself, I became a debutante at several balls in 1960. Glamor and mystique attend the idea of making a debut into society. In fact, my father told me that when I was old enough, he would make sure I was presented at court to the Queen in London. Sadly for him, if not for me, the debutante balls of the court were canceled after the 1958 season.By the 1950s, life was changing in…
When I was waiting for my baby to be born, I was Christmas shopping and sending out Christmas cards. I was so late with the cards because I kept thinking the baby would come in time for a photo on the card. NOPE. She was due in late November, but she did not feel like being born yet. In fact, it was three weeks past her due date when she finally arrived on December 19th, a few days before Christmas….
It is hard to believe that people are still falling for it. But the other day I went to a consignment store that has wonderful things. I noticed a sign on the door saying, “Masks encouraged.” Sure enough, when I went up to the desk, I saw that all three women working there were wearing pointy white paper masks. Of course, they do nothing to protect the wearer from this virus. I guess it is some psychological “fix.” Do they…
My Oldest Daughter is Having a Big Birthday this month. Helen Dow Matheson Hilliard was born on February 24, 1963. (just after my 21st birthday ) Second of our children. She was born in Charlottesville, VA at UVA Hospital. Her dad was in the Architecture School at UVA. We were thrilled to have a girl. Our family was complete. A Mom and Dad and two children, a boy and a girl were the ideal in the 1960s. But in fact,…
