For the love of mothers

For the love of mothers

Though the roads are muddy and the days are more often than not overcast, spring is here and Mother’s Day is around the corner. Mother’s Day: a “celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society,” as Wikipedia describes it. (I googled it not because I didn’t know what Mother’s Day is but to get the actual date on which it falls this year, which if you didn’t know is May 12.)

Mirror, mirror on my bike…

Mirror, mirror on my bike…

At the Selectboard meeting of April 8, I urgently requested the Selectboard to issue an ordinance regarding bicycle traffic on the streets in Charlotte. The ordinance I proposed was that “Every bicycle operating on any street of the Town must be equipped with a rear-view mirror.” The importance of rear-view mirrors for the safety of bicyclists is self-evident. Bicyclists are continually being overtaken by cars, and awareness about what comes up from behind is crucial for survival, as illustrated by the fatal accident suffered by Dr. Ken Najarian on Greenbush Road four years ago.

It’s okay to wear white after Labor  Day, and don’t spill the bong water

It’s okay to wear white after Labor Day, and don’t spill the bong water

At the dinner table, it’s considered proper manners to pass the food counter-clockwise, to the right. Lizzie Post, etiquette expert and co-president of the Emily Post Institute, wants people to know that when one is passing a joint, those rules don’t apply. Though pot is usually passed to the left, “It can go in any direction,” she said, “As long as you don’t take it back immediately.”

Some good reads for your listening pleasure

Some good reads for your listening pleasure

I don’t know what there is about Kevin Hart. I just love him. Since I first encountered him in the movie, Get Hard (my kids laugh at me for how much I went so crazy over that movie), I can’t get enough of him. I mean it; I love him. Imagine my delight when I discovered that he had written a book, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons.

State Court divisions demystified

State Court divisions demystified

Last month I talked about the different categories detail what the different state court divisions do. To remind you, each county has a Superior Court with four divisions: Criminal, Civil, Family and Probate. There is also a statewide Environmental Division and a statewide Judicial Bureau. This month I am going to talk about the Criminal Division.

It’s reading time

It’s reading time

It’s nine degrees out now, two earlier this morning. A fire is roaring in the fireplace here, the sun is going down (though it seems as though it was just lunchtime), and the pug is snoring on the couch. A tea is at my elbow and the house is making creaking noises. It’s reading season. I have just ventured upstairs and gathered up a few of the books I have read since last time we spoke. I am now back at my seat by the fire (which I do not intend to leave anytime soon), ready to go.

Several good reads (and a television series) to start a new year

Several good reads (and a television series) to start a new year

On Christmas Eve, 1932, in South Detroit, “Saverio Armandonada warmed his hands underneath the tin lunch pail on his lap as he rode the trolley from the Chester Street stop to the River Rouge plant.” So begins Adriana Trigiani’s new novel, Tony’s Wife, which I just, this first day of the new year, finished.