Moving
What’s a year in the scheme of things? It’s been a big one, and I have gone way internal, and am coming out the other side. And we’re moving. Up the road to a beautiful, bigger house in Woodland Valley…
Italy Retrospective: More Thoughts on Ordinary Food
It’s been almost four months since we returned from our Italy trip. I am still digesting, if you will, the whole thing, especially my happily evolving relationship to food, and foodishness. So I would like to begin a little series…
Renouncing the New Decadence
Last night A and I hung out with our good friends who have a 2nd home across the street, which they usually rent out. When they are not here, they live in the West Village, where they own a well-known…
Writing From the Middle of a Conversation You Didn’t Know We Were Having
I recently returned from a family trip to Italy. We visited Assisi, home of Saint Francis and his sidekick, Chiara, otherwise known as Clare, founder of the order of Poor Clares. She was the first woman to to write a…
My Drama is Usually Internal. However…..
I have been locked out of my blog, and just got back in just now! That’s not the drama; there is no grand conspiracy to keep me from writing about my quest to belong in the world. But I have…
Aw, Shucks
It’s here! The book, The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage, is now available in stores near you. In it, you can read my essay about how my dad, who annoyed the hell out of me, taught me how to cook, how…
Yikes: My Two-Cents on the The Zen Sex Scandals, published by the Weeklings
Some Personal Reflections on the Most Recent Zen Teacher Sex Scandal Bethany Saltman Thursday, March 21, 2013 IT WAS SPRING. I remember that. It might have even been Easter Sunday, the day after our brunch, when Dena called me….
An Enlarged Heart? Maybe. Maybe Not.
Yesterday I picked up a new book from Molly, my favorite local librarian. Every time I stumble across something that appeals, I go my account on the Phoenicia Library page and order it up. Then Molly calls me when it’s…
This is My Baby-Cousin’s Chair…Take it Away, Mark Benedict!
(Art by Peter Brandstatter (1917-) My younger cousin, the blond on the far left of this Thanksgiving at Barothy Lodge family pic, on someone’s shoulders, is not so young anymore, and is graduating from Sarah Lawrence’s MFA program this spring….
Now, This is Weird
Another snow day. Deadlines. Online teaching. Smurfs. Chili. My new favorite Rooibus cinnamon tea. Tennis cancelled. And the weird part is….? I confess, there’s not much to report. (Getting warmer.) I have been working on a piece about my relationship…