That day in summer when time stops

That day in summer when time stops

For all the years before there was texting, I was the one who said it first, phoning her at the crack of dawn every Aug. 1, blurting out, “HappyTopOfTheFerrisWheel!” before she could even say hello. Now my friend Beth beats me. “HAPPY TOP OF THE FERRIS WHEEL” she texts in all capital letters the second her iPhone clicks to Aug. 1. The two of us have been celebrating this non-holiday since our adult children were in middle school…

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Out back, a honeysuckle by any other name

Out back, a honeysuckle by any other name

My friend Anne knows her flora and fauna. You walk through the woods with her and she doesn’t say, “Look at that beautiful tree!” She says, “Look at that aspen. Look at that red spruce. A black ash. Wow!” Plus she can identify birds. “See? At the feeder? That’s a male rose-breasted grosbeak.” When she doesn’t know the name of something, she grabs her National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds or her Field Guide to North American Trees and learns the names…

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