There is something going on I was not aware of and I don’t want you to be puzzled when this hits People magazine, as I was when Adele (Adele who?) swept the Grammys. Those little pastel marshmallow chicks are making noise, louder noise than the traditional peep. And they are going global with it. There is a Peep subculture and it is not only thriving it is having one heck of a good time. People are bonding with Peeps. Sometimes to eat, but mostly to get all crazy with. I first became aware of this phenomenon when a friend posted on her Facebook page a photo of a pile of Peeps at Costco. She…

  A month ago I wrote in the column Thoughts on the Neighborhood Pub about the need for a third place, a place that is not home or work, a place where we can retreat without the obligations of family, dishes, dinner, phone, or expectations.  The closing of my favorite third place, Walden Grille, prompted that column. Ray Oldenburg’s book The Great Good Place articulates these opinions in convincing detail.   We need an escape place.  Other countries accommodate this need in their town squares, cafes, parks, coffee shops and pubs.  We in the U.S. are spread out and have to look for and …

  The closing of Walden Grille has precipitated a lengthy exchange of opinions on Patch. It seems that people miss the pub atmosphere the grill offered; they miss the gathering place. In his book, "The Great Good Place," Ray Oldenburg contends we all need a spot that is free of expectations, where no business need be conducted, where you can put aside the business of the day and talk without the structure of home or work. Or where you could find a corner table for serious conversation. He calls it a third place, a place where conversation is lively, information flows, or the patron can sit in…

  Yes, it’s a foodie’s favorite time of year. I know that because I am one. And I know I have been self indulgent because of the lack of breathing room in my dungarees. But oh my, what a trip it has been. As the song says: "Haul out the holly, Put up the tree before my spirit falls again." And I would add: make sure the tables are decked in cookies. We do our celebrating Christmas Eve, with presents, casseroles, children and a reading of "Visit from Saint Nicholas" read by the grandfather. The Spanglish version keeps their interest. "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa, …

  A family near Brighton, England, offers the opportunity to spend a night in an unheated stable, sleeping on straw with donkeys for company. The £12, which goes to charity, includes mulled wine, a duvet and a breakfast of tea and toast. The advertisement offers an opportunity to experience the first Christmas. Writer Tom Meltzer thought it worth a try and his experience is posted on the Guardian.co.uk website. After a cold, damp night (it is the U.K. after all and even the palaces are chilly) Meltzer hastened to the farmhouse, which we assume had a fireplace, and answered his hosts’ inquiry …

  “Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children’s children.” Deuteronomy 4:9 The year is ending. Even the annual festival of lights cannot hide the fact that the days and our moods are dark and introspective. We don’t know what next year will bring, and we anticipate with a mixture of fear and hope. Things will change, we will not be the same person at the end of 2012, nor will our friends. With luck our friends and family will still be with us, but there will be a difference. Just look at the …

  What does it take to make the Thanksgiving dinner authentic? It is a given that you need a turkey to make a proper Thanksgiving dinner (vegetarians can weigh in in the comments section), but what else makes Thanksgiving special? To one of my neighbors, homemade cranberry relish makes a Thanksgiving meal complete. She uses the New York Times recipe, which sounds similar to the one my mother used. I had the advantage of living across the street from a cranberry bog, so gathering the berries was an adventure. The bog was wild and untended, so no worries about insecticides. The key to Becky …

The writers of the U.S. Constitution did not trust the common man to vote for his representative in the U.S. Senate. This privilege was awarded to members of the state legislatures. Not until 1913 and the 17th Amendment to the Constitution did this change. The 17th Amendment stated: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators elected by the people thereof, for six years…” By “people” it was understood that half the population would have the privilege of electing that state’s U.S. senators. Because those allowed to vote chose the state legislatures it was assumed the …

Ode to autumnThe good:Homemade applesauce, asters, chrysanthemums, maple leaves, mist on the rivers, sweaters, socks, warm blankets, pumpkin and apple pies, farm stands, piles of pumpkins, long lasting tall daisies, fall blooming clematis and Halloween. And sedum. It spreads in little clumps without being begged and has a nice pink to rose hue, but only after the days get shorter. A cool breeze off the ocean with the low sun behind you is worth a trip to the Atlantic. Even though you can’t see the sun set, the eastern horizon glows rose. And there is comforting smell of a wood burning stove …

What do Singapore, Bahrain, Japan, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, North and South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, Taiwan, and the United States have in common? They all have a death penalty as a means of curbing crime.What do Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Columbia, France, England, Canada, Scandinavia, Spain, Mozambique, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, Senegal, Gabon, New Zealand, Nepal, Paraguay, Panama, Peru and Italy have in common? No death penalty.The 2000 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union opposes the death …

Let’s talk about the late Irene, not the rain and damage but the coverage. I have no problem with hype. Sometimes you need to get people’s attention and there are a lot of people around who don’t know the power and whimsical nature of a hurricane. My irritation — OK, crankiness — is not with the wall-to-wall coverage, I watched it with fascination. My problem is with some assumptions that were made by two stations. Alas, I couldn’t watch more than one channel at a time for periods longer than eight hours at a stretch so probably am missing other assumptions and, well let’s just admit it, …

Tornadoes, earthquake, hurricane! I heard that the locusts have started tweeting. The good news: we could use the water. Better news: Maybe it will take down the fir trees in the yard that are almost hollow.You have to admit, there’s nothing like a good possible crisis to get people concentrating on something besides Pippa Middleton and the debt ceiling.In boring times and exciting times Universal Hub is my news source. Despite the endless and conflicting opinions of their bloggers, once in a while someone with knowledge and perspective weighs in.According to Universal Hub, on the Thursday …

Twenty years ago I learned to refuse to play Scrabble with Fred Fay.Fred knew all the two-letter words and was shameless about using them. Fred would clean the clock of anyone who took him on. And he did this while lying on his motorized wheel-bed, talking and smiling malevolently through a mirror tilted so he could see you and the board. He was a relentless competitor and that spirit led him to become one of the prime movers in the disability rights movement in the United States. From the White House to national organizations for people with disabilities, he received praise, honors and …

Raise your hand if one of your ancestors was from Nova Scotia. In New England you are probably in the majority. We have the continuing wars between the British and French for domination of what has become North American to thank for that. July 28, 1775, the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia declared in a written statement “he was obliged … to advise that all the French inhabitants may be removed from the province.” The deportation began August 11, 1755. Some native French inhabitants of that province had headed for New Brunswick or other French communities before they were forced out. The …

I love Concord in the summer. It is a bit of folklore, promoted by Concord residents and widely believed throughout MetroWest, that everyone in Concord has another house; someplace lovely on a lake or ocean. And that Concordians spend late June to Labor Day in that other place; that place of serenity and calm. That place where we ordinary mortals can’t find them. A place where those people don’t have to bother with us.Nonsense, I say.   Concord is not only great in the summer, but it can be anything you want: hopping or serene. And the people I hang with are not only here, they are more …

I helped you get through the spring rains with useful tips on coping with boredom, and am happy to help you get through the dog days of summer, which, even if there has been a slight let up on the heat, will be back.  I urge you to put yourself in a snow and ice state of mind; escapism works for me and might work for you. To help find the right films I asked a group of Concordian movie-lovers and got a list of flicks that will not only help you forget the humidity but might help you love it. Jennifer Jacoby was the first to weigh in with The Shining, and it was on many other lists.  Jack …

For many people vacation starts from the time they get out the maps, plan the routes and talk to people about the exciting time they are about to have.   For me a good vacation starts when I have unpacked the last bag and have read the last piece of old mail.  Or when I walk into Sally Ann’s for my morning coffee and am asked: "How was the vacation?"   “Wonderful,” I say sincerely, “with a few exceptions.”   June 21st I returned from a trip that involved security, a canceled flight, Spanish, Andorran and French speaking people, and tapas made up of stringy fish.  When I first, softly, …

People enjoy recommending summer reading.  This habit is particularly prevalent among columnists.  Therefore I would be remiss if I did not share my thoughts with you, like it or not. My reading is the same year ‘round: light and short.  Nothing over 300 pages.  And no books that require reading next-in-the-series.  This seems to be the type of book recommended for summer reading, so let’s have a go at it.  Nothing fiction here, we can save that for another time. Winter reading perhaps. These can be books read on the porch between naps, no heavy lifting. Try Sarah Vowell, starting with …

It is spring. I know that because I have two calendars and they both told me that spring has sprung, in fact it sprang many weeks ago.  I also know that April showers bring May flowers, which just proves you can’t trust either calendars or adages. You must rely on your senses.  It is raining and has been for about a month and it is cold.  This is not what my ancestors told me to expect of May.  And they did not give me a back up plan.   According to weather.com we are not going to see the sun until May 22.  So it is time for Plan B, the things your parents never told you: what to do if it …

Around July 29, 1981, Boston Globe columnist Diane White wrote a cogent column on what we won and what we lost when we decided we could do without the king’s tea.  She thought we might have come out short. They kept the gold carriages, plumed horses, horse guards, beefeaters, crown jewels, palaces, country estates, four-day celebrations with hats, and pubs on every corner.   We got the White House, undercover agents in dark suits and Congress.   I agree we should have thought this tempest in a teapot through more carefully. On April 29, at 5 a.m., I, and some other people who value an over-…