Everyone knows how to take a bath, right? 
I thought I did, until I visited Japan for the first time.
Japan has elevated bathing to an art form, complete with accoutrements like wooden buckets ...  [+]

Autumn's here—Happy New Year!

Not for me, that pallid substitute in January with its noisemakers and forgotten resolutions. My calendar resets annually with the opening of classroom doors, no ...  [+]

Sarah bounced as the SUV hit another rough patch on the dirt road into Silver City.
"Just look at this place!" her dad exclaimed, taking photos of one rundown building after another.
"You wanted ...  [+]

Ice cream at bedtime,
Aunt Betty's the best!
She knows in the summer
it's hard to find rest

when faced with hot sheets,
hot pillows, hot bed,
no place cool enough
to lay a hot ...  [+]

If you ever met a dragon
and asked him in for tea,
he'd rave about the apple scones
with great civility.

He'd be the perfect guest
for anyone to host,
unless the dragon hiccuped
and flamed ...  [+]

Billie scuffed her flip flops through the dry needles scattered over the Christmas tree lot. Pine scent filled the air. But it felt too hot for Christmas.

"How about this one?" Her mom turned a ...  [+]

When witches walk
and goblins stalk
and all the ghosts convene,
then please draw near
so you can hear
new rhymes for Halloween!

Little Miss Muffet
sat on a tuffet
eating her curds ...  [+]

Many years ago, I worked as a film and television extra for a few months. Interspersed with temporary jobs at insurance companies and accounting firms, the onscreen background work paid no more than ...  [+]

Everyone receives gifts they neither need nor want—bath salts for people who only shower, a frilly nightgown wrapped up for someone who sleeps in sweatpants, that 27th tie . . . Sometimes we return ...  [+]

In a small cottage in a deep valley, an old woman lived with her goats and sheep, chickens and dog, a sway-backed horse and one ginger cat.

Each morning, she collected eggs while the dog led the ...  [+]

Three cats -- Rumkin, Mist, and Flop Ear -- followed Jenny along the rocky shore, dancing away from the incoming tide."This will make a good soup," said Jenny, dropping a glistening clump of sea moss ...  [+]

The rain had dried up – 
every drip, every puddle – 
but Hillie couldn't go out 
while her room was a muddle. 

Mom had been clear, and 
her dad had agreed, 
"First, clean up this ...  [+]

I don't remember which I encountered first: Helene Hanff's book, 84 Charing Cross Road, or the Anne Bancroft / Anthony Hopkins movie of the same name. All I know is that decades later the title's ...  [+]

"Baa, baa, baaaaa" bleated Sally. "Life on the Renaud farm is blah, blah, blaaaah," she complained. "Nothing ever changes. Same sheep. Same hill. Same rocks... WHOOPS!"

The stone beneath Sally's ...  [+]

There are mountains hidden downstairs
in my grandpa's country house
with craggy granite boulders
no bigger than a mouse.

Little trees of twigs and moss
hug miniature ravines,
where ...  [+]