Two years ago, as I beamed up at the customs agent from my driver’s seat, the thought that Canadian authorities might not approve of my travel plans was the furthest thing from my mind. I’d vacationed in Canada dozens of times and had never encountered trouble at the border. What’s…
I started watching soccer when my son was in the first grade. That is if you can call watching a bunch of 6-year olds crowding around a soccer ball, swinging their undersized cleats at each other’s shins, watching soccer. To be fair, the kids did more than just hover around…
The day my father, Charles Neubrecht, headed off to college, his mother Lucile pleaded with him not to go. In telling the story, my dad would paint my grandmother as a loving but nervous woman who relied heavily on her youngest son. In contrast, my dad’s characterization of himself depicted…
When Biden announced in April that he was upholding Trump’s agreement to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, I decided that I would check out War, by bestselling author Sebastian Junger. I’ve long known of Junger’s work as a war correspondent, and I was glad to finally give this book…
In April, I joined fellow blogger, Emma from Words And Peace, in reading a work of contemporary French fiction, L’Archipel d’une autre vie, by Andreï Makine. We invited people to read along with us in French or English and set up a schedule to read one-quarter of the book every…
There are so many cool and interesting things happening in the world! Each month, I look forward to sharing some of the fun and informative news items that I’ve come across. Here are my picks for May 2021. In many cases, I provide a link that you can follow to…
Last month, I went on a road trip to Washington DC with one of my daughters. It was our first significant outing together since early 2020. It felt great to be out of the house and DC was the perfect setting to spread our wings since we’re both interested in…
In April, my daughter Rita and I took a trip to Washington DC. We’d received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. It was spring break, during her last and horribly trying year of public school, and we were itching to get out of the house. A day before we left,…
