It was a part of Las Vegas seldom seen by tourists who prefer to spend their time and money in the neon glow of the Strip. We were on our way out of town for an overnight on Mount Charleston, an 11,000-foot peak an hour’s drive from Vegas, that serves as a ski resort in winter, and in other seasons, a respite from the desert inferno. [Read more…]

When I rolled out of bed this morning and padded out to the kitchen, my husband was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee, reading the paper. This was not unusual. We are newspaper people. He’s an editor. I’m a columnist. We read the paper the way farmers check the weather report: We like to know what’s on the horizon. [Read more…]

Sitting in the lobby of the dermatologist’s office, waiting for my name to be called, I passed the time glancing discretely (I hope) around the room checking out the other waiting patients. [Read more…]

I’ve always wanted a pet of my own. Not just one I had to take care of (I’ve had plenty of those) but one I actually got to name. [Read more…]

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “This is not how I imagined it would be”?

I found myself thinking that this weekend. Actually, I often find myself thinking that, but this time it was a revelation. [Read more…]

Waking up is hard to do. It’s harder on some days than on others, especially for those of us (and we know who we are) who will never be “morning people.” [Read more…]

(NOTE: I’m taking this week off. The following column is a reprint from some years back.)

In the drugstore, when I got lost looking for shampoo and ended up on the “Back to School” aisle, I saw a mother with three young children picking out school supplies. The girl wanted everything pink. The boy wanted anything “Spider-Man.” The baby wanted something to chew on. And the mother just wanted a break. [Read more…]

Some things get easier to say with age. “I love you,” for example, and “I am sorry.”
I’ve gotten pretty good at saying those things. Also, “Have you seen my glasses?” and “Can you speak a bit louder?”
But I’m still not much good at saying goodbye. I try, but the words get stuck in my throat and I end up spitting them out like a mouthful of Listerine.
Is there ever a good way to say goodbye? [Read more…]

One of the things I love about my home state, North Carolina, is its motto: “Esse quam videri,” which means, I am told, “To be, rather than to seem.”
I learned that bit of trivia long after I had left the South to live my life and rear my children in California, where the state motto is _ guess what? [Read more…]