Dear Christine, Why is Littleton Apothecary not open? The town entered into an HCA with Littleton Apothecary in May 2020. The state gave the Apothecary its provisional license in November 2020. The Planning Board detailed what you’d need to do to open in September 2021. You have been given all the permission you needed to […]

Read more "An Open Letter to Christine Nordhaus"

We have a strong cultural identity as Americans to each has the intrinsic ability to be our own best advocates. If something is a challenge, it is to be conquered. If adversity rears its head, it’s only a matter of self-determination to persevere. When life knocks you down, you just pull yourself up by your […]

Read more "Boots with Straps Long Enough to Strangle Frauds"

In my kitchen, right above the oven, I have these words on a plaque: Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. Everyday, at least once, I read Eleanor Roosevelt’s words and assess, based on what my mind is discussing (usually with itself), the quality of my thoughts. Six years ago, […]

Read more "What Discussion Does Your Mind Have?"

The reality of a life absent of any real struggle is that you can get good at many things with little effort. The critically dangerous side effect of an easy, privileged life is that you might presume, based on your stellar track record, that you’ll be naturally good at everything because life has always shined […]

Read more "To the People of My Hometown: Here We Go Again . . ."

I was ten when I encountered my first public penis. The early 80s found an innovative use for nylon: “running shorts,” a sportswear essential with cutting-edge fabric technology. The early 80s also found me, sitting with my classmates in a half-circle on our 5th-grade classroom floor with my teacher—a marathoner in training—proudly sporting a pair. […]

Read more "A 300-Word Postcard from Lara Jenson’s Childhood"

Twenty-two years ago when my fiancé and I wrote our wedding vows, we agreed to incorporate particular words and phrases. Of course, “love” and “respect” were there, but I felt it important to include “extraordinary life.” That word, “extraordinary,” is something of an oxymoron, in that, the meaning is understood as “exceptional” and/or “special,” not […]

Read more "The Perilous Comforts of Being Average"

She looks nice. Smart, reasonable, experienced. What is not clear by just looking at her is the immense power she holds. Last week on the day before my birthday, I called a car-care shop to schedule a full detailing of my car. Normally, this is something I’d do myself and manage to do with some […]

Read more "Warning: Do Not Cross 50-year-old Women"

Years ago, a friend explained that the reason she was divorcing after fifteen years of marriage, which included grade-school-aged children, a dog, three sets of silverware, two mortgages, and one much-coveted snowmobile, was because they weren’t “farther along.” Ever since hearing of that novel unit of measurement, I have lain it on a short stack […]

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An Explanation for his American Rule [Tosses cellphone across the room, where it lands on the patterned, tufted couch. Stomping toward the Resolute Desk, where scant work has been done for the American people in the last three and a half years, he squeezes into the chair, glances at the corner where his predecessor had […]

Read more "PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SOLILOQUY:"

  With all the bread making we’d been doing since quarantine began, our oven was bound to break. When that happened, I received a recommendation for a local repair shop and scheduled a service call. After greeting the unmasked repairman in my driveway, he put one on and came inside to inspect our out-of-order appliance. […]

Read more "The Un-Masked Desire for More, More, More"