I am proud of the fact that my parents were landscape architects. They worked together as partners, which mostly seemed to work out. From them I picked up a love of the backyard outdoors. I’m also pretty good with houseplants, but I can’t draw, I have no engineering skills, I […]

First, you get a phone call. A police officer is on the other end. She explains your son went head-over-heels off his bicycle and is in the hospital. He lost consciousness briefly and is beat up. His friend, with whom he was biking, is with him and will call soon. […]

I would like to point out the obvious by saying we should use different writing styles for different assignments. A novel by a master will be more majestic than a press release or directions to assemble a bicycle. Here’s an example of a description of city light seen through a […]

While watching “What Not to Wear,” a reality TV show that helps women figure out how to dress more fashionably, the female host said that one contestant had the “boringest” wardrobe ever. My 15-year-old daughter asked, “Is that a real word?” My heart leapt with happiness. I lecture my kids […]