Last winter was so cold that I seriously thought about retiring and moving to Florida. I mentioned this to one of my oldest friends who happens to live in Florida.  “What?” she said. “Are you crazy?” (She says this whenever moving to Florida pops into...

I spent Fourth of July weekend at a friend’s house in upstate NY. It was really beautiful. Green. Peaceful. On Saturday it rained and so I found myself sitting at the kitchen table writing. My friend was prepping for a party Sunday for friends and had...