“The Atlantic” WWII Retrospective, and a Young Airwoman’s Recollections of Barbarossa, 70y Ago

This summer, The Atlantic began running a weekly retrospective of World War Two—a series of photographs from different eras and theatres of that great war. The photographs are riveting, calamitous, heartrending. Seventy years ago this summer, the German army invaded the Soviet Union, breaking a non-aggression pact between Stalin and Hitler and raining unimaginable destruction upon Ukraine, Belarus,…

Russian Coup – 20 Years Ago

Twenty years ago today, tanks rumbled through the streets of Moscow. Do you remember where you were? Every generation has its historic “where were you when” moments. For ours, there’s the Challenger disaster (1/86), the fall of the Berlin Wall (11/89), and most vivid of all for me, the three-day Soviet coup in late summer…

Hal guest posts on our 12th smoochiversary

Twelve years ago today, I lost a beloved airplane and gained a far more beloved Hal. Here’s the story as told on the Imogene and Willie blog, via the unsurpassed wordsmithery of Libby Callaway and the breathtaking photographic wizardry of Tony Baker.  Please bear with Hal and me as we get all gross about the whole…

Recents

For more than a year, I’ve been writing essays, features, and a monthly column for HER Nashville, a local women’s monthly edited by the lovely and stylish Abby White Plachy. Here a a few of my favorites from the spring and summer:   A Tomboy Turns 40 – A madcap obstacle race complete with fire, mud,…

My Favorite Annuals

Every year Halcyon Garden has more pots to fill, thanks to a generous grant by the Mom Green foundation. But every April we seem to buy fewer varieties of annuals. We know what we like now, and we don’t do quite so much experimenting anymore. And we’ve finally learned that a broad swath of one…