Leonard Cohen sang, “It’s four in the morning/the end of December/I’m writing you now/Just to see if you’re better…” in the mournful ‘70s tune “Famous Blue Raincoat”. Actually, here in the last embers of 2013, it’s more like late afternoon, and we—Ramona, ...
15 Jan 2014 - Melissa Favara
In August, Ramona and I drove to Salem to meet Regis, a fluffy little puppy whose picture we’d spied on a rescue society’s website. He would be the yin to our Newfoundland-mix Vera’s yang, when we brought her near-toxic level cuteness home eight years ago ...
4 Dec 2013 - Melissa Favara
I always like to quote John Keats’ unforgettable “To Autumn” when fall arrives: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves ...
24 Sep 2013 - Melissa Favara
Back in the '80s, when I was growing up in Saginaw, Mich., then home to something like eight factory sites for General Motors, the state motto — emblazoned on billboards, T-shirts and bumper stickers — was “Say Yes to Michigan.” I can still hear the ...
15 Aug 2013 - Melissa Favara
I don’t believe in soul mates. At least, not in theory: I think of my life, my reality, as the one that won out among many possible realities that could be entirely different if I’d made one infinitely small decision elsewhere. As it happens, I decided to ...
25 Jun 2013 - Melissa Favara
This isn’t garbage. It’s totally useful,” says Marshall, the father of my child and my partner in crime, life, and everything. “It’s not garbage.” Our back gate is open to the alleyway, and a borrowed box truck full of lawn debris, rotten lumber, and sund ...
5 Jun 2013 - Melissa Favara
By Melissa Favara, Contributing Columnist I love teaching 20th Century American Literature in the Pacific Northwest in the spring. Spring term generally is great because it starts off gray and murky, and the students seem kind of draggy, and everyone gets ...
7 May 2013 - Melissa Favara