Juno, 9, keeping me company in the hoophouse the day school let out for the summer. ( Becca Tucker) Sanctum sanctorum Do you want these? My dad asked, gesturing at the ground around his pool. I’ve been trying to be better about taking anything... From the Editor 05 Jun 2025 | 10:31
Juno, 9, and Niko headed down to the stream. ( Becca Tucker) It all happens on the blue trail The blue trail started out as a footpath down to the stream about a quarter-mile from our house. It’s an easy walk, but it’s... Home 06 Mar 2025 | 11:55
Why I don’t want AI writing my story (or yours) AI writes creepily well, as you’ve probably gathered by now. I’ve been keeping it at arm’s length for existential reasons.... From the Editor 02 Jan 2025 | 12:47
The kids’ relationship with Eat Local September is smoother when treats are on the menu. ( Becca Tucker) Facing down a mutiny Feed dog, crank crank. Cut up apples for kids’ snacks, crank crank. Look up how far the guy selling his Toyota Tacoma lives... From the Editor 24 Sep 2024 | 11:25
Spongy moth caterpillars have eaten my young apple trees to tatters. ( Becca Tucker) The infestation blues It’s perfect out: high 70s and sunny. This, moreover, is the treasured day a week I work from home. The time not spent commuting... From the Editor 29 May 2024 | 11:55
Year two: Neighbors start leaving us egg cartons, even the ones that we figured, from the aggressive election signage on display when we moved in, might not care to mingle. ( Becca Tucker) It’s a Hill thing After nearly four years in Pennsylvania, we’re in. Year one: The neighbors on our hill start (finally) waving back as we... From the Editor 01 Mar 2024 | 02:31
The kids shelling beans while listening to a Harry Potter audiobook, as humans have been doing (minus audiobook) for 8,000 years. ( Becca Tucker) The Tao of dry beans Green, purple, wax, bush, pole, edamame. Who knows why, but this was the year of the bean. Vines clambered up the eight-foot... From the Editor 22 Nov 2023 | 02:55
The mercenary army in my garden This morning, I got zapped while picking raspberries, once on the ankle and twice upside the head, above my ear, as if my... From the Editor 27 Sep 2023 | 02:25
Arugula Toad in her favorite garden bed. ( Becca Tucker) Arugula Toad Was it a trick of the eye or did that clump of dirt shift ever so slightly? On closer inspection, the clump resolved into... From the Editor 06 Jun 2023 | 03:45
The truck-tree awaiting planting after flourishing through the winter. ( Becca Tucker) The truck-tree that could “We don’t have to ever throw away our truck-tree, right?” asked Dion, my four-year-old. “Uh, right,” I hollered back over... Home 03 Apr 2023 | 11:19
The truck-tree, a Walmart checkout-aisle impulse buy, awaiting planting after fluorishing through the winter. ( Becca Tucker) “We don’t have to ever throw away our truck-tree, right?” asked Dion, my four-year-old. “Uh, right,” I hollered back over... From the Editor 03 Apr 2023 | 11:19
My waterless closet I returned home from a recent trip to find, installed in a corner of the new woodshed, a token of husband Joe’s affection.... From the Editor 13 Dec 2022 | 12:11
We’d all but given up on tomatoes – until we stumbled upon a forgotten back swath of our half-wild garden. ( Becca Tucker) The wilds of garden three The kids and I came home from the Adirondacks at summer’s end – where I’d been daydreaming of rows of juicy Goldie tomatoes... From the Editor 01 Sep 2022 | 03:29
One of the black racers we have acquired as a neighbor. ( Becca Tucker) Getting to know the neighbors Some people fear spiders, others, heights. My thing is snakes. Snakes of all sizes make me gasp and tap dance, but to state... From the Editor 28 Jun 2022 | 10:42
The home fire Notwithstanding the lacrosse ball lodged in my lymph node, when our house came down with Covid there was some solace in the... From the Editor 03 Mar 2022 | 01:54
