Category: Essay
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Is Stacy There?
Several years ago a series of events occurred that started me thinking about the very human desire we all have to look into our past lives and track down those whose paths we once crossed. This particular incident occurred just before Thanksgiving in 2009. Here’s how it unfolded. Brrrrinnnngggg. Brrrrinnnngggg. Slapping furiously at the alarm…
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A Narrow Sliver of Land
We all have our Proust moments: the singular bite of something that we loved and cherished in our childhood, re-tasted later as an adult, transporting us back in time to a particularly fond memory. Truman Capote, in his semi-autobiographical short story “A Christmas Memory”, describes in great detail the food of his childhood in the…
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Links to Faith and Family
Every morning, I instinctively reach up to feel for the rose gold chain and cross around my neck. I never take it off. It is more than just a sign of my faith; those gold links are a connection to my mother’s family in Scotland. In 1997 my mother’s first cousin, Anna Liddell, came from…
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Living in Belgium: A Few of My Favorite Things
For two glorious years I lived abroad, as a “trailing spouse” expat living in Waterloo, Belgium. Yes, that Waterloo. As in the battlefield, which is the site of the famous 1815 Battle of Waterloo. As in Napoléon, Emperor of France, who met his great defeat at the hands of England’s Duke of Wellington. In July…
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Writing to Winston
As I write this on my laptop, I am listening to George Winston’s album December via Spotify. While not actually December, it is the dead of winter here in the northeast, a brisk and cold 39°, on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. The first time I heard George Winston was back in the mid-80’s, at a…
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The Eyes Have It
I had a bit of a scare this past week. The week in general was not great. My husband was away visiting his brother who had had open heart surgery. The DC area experienced one of its “wintry mixes” which means complete and utter chaos on the highways, multiple car pileups in multiple locations, and…
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Buttered Toast
Buttered toast. Buttered toast and a cup of steaming café au lait. Buttered toast and a cup of English Breakfast tea, with a paper-thin slice of lemon floating delicately on top. Buttered toast and a cup of homemade chicken noodle soup. Heck, buttered toast all by itself. Two ingredients. Simplicity in itself. Comforting. Delicious. For…
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Snow Day: Who Loves One More, Students or Their Teachers?
Yesterday we returned to school after a two-week break for the Christmas holiday. The day went well, albeit somewhat slowly, as first days back after break tend to do so. But, with mid-term exams looming in the very near future, students worked hard to get back up to speed. And, then, today? Snow day! First…
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Clicking My Way through the Bermuda Triangle
First, let me just state for the record: I love the internet. I do, really. I also love beignets hot from the bubbling deep fryer, covered in an avalanche of powdered sugar. And, taking long naps. And, a really dry, really cold, slightly dirty, gin martini, straight up, like Ian Fleming’s superhero, James Bond (more…
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License to Carry
After a lifetime of being a cat person, a dog came into my life. It’s a long story but suffice it to say that it was a somewhat unorthodox adoption. Being half-Scottish, and having traveled to Scotland several times, I have quite a few souvenirs emblazoned with the ubiquitous Westie and/or Scottie. I always dreamed…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 